Sarutobi no Jinchuuriki
by Simplice
Summary: Sarutobi's Human Sacrifice-- FemNaru-- Kaiyou, Jinchuuriki to the Kyuubi, daughter of the living Yondaime, is a new genin. Her goal: to protect her loved ones. Challenge: Her enemies. Now in the "Shippuden" timeline!
1. Minato

A/N: I would never even attempt to claim to own Naruto or any other manga….in Naruto's case because it's TOO LONG! So here is another version, from my mind to your eyes.

And seriously, stop NOW if you aren't willing to read an AU, with Naruto having been born and, living, as a female. Things are different in this version--I'm not rewriting or cloning the Naruto story--just a few changes and the whole Naruto universe may change!

Okay and about the whole accuracy issue: forget it. I'm trying to write a story that is fun for those who enjoy femNaru stories, not for those who are sticklers for accuracy, or the cannon. So no point complaining because I don't really want to deal with any of that--if you have a legitimate complaint like in chapter five making Temari have a crush on Sasuke a teensy bit, and then in the next chapter her harboring secret desires for Kabuto…well THEN you can complain, k? K!

XxOOxX

Dictionary of words used in this chapter:

Ojiisan—somebody's grandpa

Gaki brat

Obaasan—somebody's grandma

Ai-- love, not necessarily romantic

Nii-san somebody's older brother

XxOOxX

Kaiyou was a very lucky girl in all but a few things. Her father never made her eat vegetables. She had two good friends, and her father's student hanging around--an uncle figure. Jiraiya, her ojiisan, came around sometimes. Dad was always hitting him on the head… (She'd learn why a few years later.) She almost always managed to escape from her pranks unscathed, and her dad applauded her efforts unless she went too overboard.

The ills in her life more than made up for her good fortune however. Mother had died giving birth to her. One of her granddads had sealed a demon inside of her on that same day. Lots of the villagers feared her, but some loved her. She was the Hokage's daughter, and on the occasions that violent acts were committed against the 'demon brat' ANBU reacted violently and swiftly against the perpetrators. Her reputation in the village was a mixed bag; between her pranks, the demon, and her status everybody played hot and cold about how much they actually liked the gaki. It didn't bother Kaiyou; she had her friends, a father, an uncle, and wasn't failing at the Academy. Yet. A few more pranks on Mizuki and Iruka and they might just decide to fail her for an immature personality…

Outside the village was dangerous for Kaiyou. Minato had many enemies, and all of them would love to hurt him through the petite little girl. Luckily the Namikaze reputation (despite no real clan affiliation) was so feared that his enemies had run on sight orders—and few were foolish enough to incite his wrath by attacking his daughter. Outside the reputation she wasn't known as a Jinchuuriki but still as a demon nonetheless--cross her path and Daddy comes calling. At least that was the reputation that followed Kaiyou, nobody had actually tried to hurt her…

Namikaze Minato knew that his young daughter, still five years old, would have challenges in her life, but she'd beat them. Tsunade-obaasan would be green at the girl's luck. He could still, precisely five years later, only marvel that he was able to watch his little girl grow up, his Kaiyou, the only woman left in his life. It was a sad thing that saved his life—his grandfather figure had taken his place.

_Flashback—5 years ago_

_Minato sadly stared down at the little bundle in his arms, sitting in the hospital room. Bright blue eyes looked up at him, from a pale face, a tiny strand of blonde hair on the top of her head. She didn't look anything like her mother—she took after him all the way. That was dangerous for her; on the bed in the room lay his wife's covered up body, a mere husk to the woman she'd been—without parents there would be nobody to protect the young Kaiyou from the enemies he'd made in other countries, nor from those within the village who would hate her._

_He planned to sacrifice himself to save the village from the demon that was rampaging through his village. Unfortunately it would also sacrifice his daughter's safety, the tiny little girl in his arms would become a powerful demon vessel, a hero without respect. Sighing he put his daughter down in the cradle where the nurses could keep an eye on her. One last bowl of ramen, and then he'd pick his daughter up, and sacrifice the two of them for the sake of the village--the Namikaze family would go from two, to three, to one in a single day, the last Namikaze would be an outcast, probably disbarred from even claiming her heritage._

_He left to go to his hidey-hole for ramen (a necessity during long hours of paperwork) before heading to his office to grab the notes on the seal. When he got there it wasn't there. _

_His daughter was no longer in her little cradle either. Minato began to panic, tugging on his wild blonde hair. Grabbing the shoulder of a nurse who walked by he spoke to her franticly, "Where's my daughter? Where is Kaiyou?"_

"_Oh the little one? Sarutobi-sama took her, said he needed her for a little while." Minato paled and ran off, headed for a view of the battlefield. He got there just in time for the Kyuubi to disappear along with a giant simian. A figure with a cloth bundle in his arms crumpled to the ground. Minato's grandfather-like-figure had taken his place. He was to live on, and raise his little daughter. _

Minato jerked his attentions back to his daughter, snoring lightly in her bed. It was time for him to wake her up for breakfast. Then he would go to the Tower for the day, keep himself busy with paperwork (ugh) while his little girl would go play at the park. A grin lit up his face; he may have to work but there was no rule saying he couldn't have fun on his own time!

The man, who used to enjoy a good prank every so often, grabbed his daughter and pulled her out of bed, and dangled her over his shoulder. She woke up with a screech, and squirmed trying to escape her dad as he ran down the stairs and into the kitchen with her, making her giggle.

"Is Daddy going to play with Kaiyou today? We have fun today?" Kaiyou asked rubbing grit from her eyes as she looked at the bowl of cereal on the table and pouted. "Can we have ramen together today?"

Namikaze Minato shook his head at his little girl. There were a lot of things he needed to do. Paperwork, pass some laws on psychiatric care for young ninjas, age restrictions to becoming a genin (in turn preventing psychos like Orochimaru becoming obsessed with power and not caring about human emotions), some more paperwork, getting lectured at by the council, some more paperwork, oh yeah and some more paperwork. His life was taken up with so much paperwork he never actually got around to passing laws or playing with his daughter. She needed some parental influence in her life—more than their weekly ramen binging sessions, Fridays at lunchtime.

"Sorry Ai, I have sooo much paperwork it could take me ten days to do it all!" His daughter pouted, her face screwing up in a way that would have looked bizarre on a boy. In the back of his mind he wondered where his little girl had picked up that trait from—none of the people he let hang around his daughter had it--not Kakashi, Iruka, ...

Then suddenly, shocking the young widower from his thoughts, a grin lit up his girl's face. "Then why doesn't daddy put others to work? Bunshin technique is so hard it has to be good for something!" A grin cracking his face Minato reached over and tousled the girls' hair.

"It sure is good for something! I can make more of me and put them to doing my work! Maybe I'll even manage a little bit of time to play with my favorite little girl. Do you think she would like that Kaiyou?"

"She would! She would," Kaiyou exclaimed with a giggle.

"Okay then I'll be sure to put you on my schedule for….is 4 okay? Hmm?" At her nod he nodded, grinned and tapped his head twice, their secret sign for an agreement. Then a stern look crossed his face. "Now what do you mean the bunshin is hard? It shouldn't be hard for a midget like you," he teased.

"I am not a midget daddy! You're a midget!" She pouted, then giggled realizing how foolish that had been. "It just is hard daddy! All my catra goes kablooey! My clone looks sick, I feel so bad to make a sick person…"

Minato nodded his head, knowingly. A sick clone could mean not enough chakra, too much, or improper handseals. Iruka would have caught it for the third, the first was impossible for any child of his, especially for a little Jinchuuriki. The second explanation it was.

"When daddy goes to work can you do a big job for me?" Kaiyou nodded excitedly, practically bouncing on her feet and barely managing to get her spoon into her mouth with the last bite of her cereal on it. "I want to you pester your nii-san to help you with your chakra control. Tell him leaves and trees." Kaiyou grinned, she had permission to bug Kakashi! Today couldn't get much better.

XxOOxX

Today couldn't get much worse, Minato sighed to himself at noon that day as he slurped down his ramen noodles that he had hidden away, still, in his office. Sure Kaiyou had given him a great idea about using his kage bunshins to do his paperwork. But that meant now he had a bit of a headache from releasing them. AND he had to deal with the counsel to pass the laws he'd been drafting all morning.

Luckily Konoha politics were limited and he would not have to spend hours on this law, stopping youngsters from elevating in rank too quickly, and being exposed to the adult world too young. He just had to convince the counsel in argument that it was wise. Orochimaru was a prime example, and he had to appeal to the parental instincts that many of the counsel members would have. He'd probably have to stipulate that training would not be diminished, and students could advance in training and learning advanced techniques as soon as they were skilled enough to use them, and not put others' lives recklessly in danger. Their mental state would be watched over to ensure loyalty to Konoha and stability—no need for bloodlust marring a shinobi's outlook. Translation: Their genins might be extremely skilled, but not have the missions to prove it to other countries, and there would be no power-hungry, ruthless shinobis running around unchecked. No Orochimaru clones. Not one.

It would be a hard sell to the counsel, but Minato was going to force it through. He wanted it to protect his little girl, and all the other children of the village. The future could not be risked for their current status, not like it had been a year ago.

Flashback

_Counsel meeting, ramen or paperwork…counsel meeting, ramen, or paperwork….which do I want to do…Ramen wins! Minato was just about to add water to his cup of instant ramen when an urgent knock came to his door and an ANBU hurried in. _

"_Hokage-sama, young Anko has had her apartment vandalized again. Tiger reported activity and managed to stop civilians from throwing exploding tags into the apartment while she was out." _

_Minato sighed. Anko was having a tough time of it. Only fourteen and the whole village hated her- she didn't have any friends that he knew of. "Send them to Ibiki to scare them into telling him who gave them the exploding notes." As the ANBU left Minato mumbled to himself—"Which of my shinobi was foolish enough to sell a controlled item to a civilian..?"_

Shaking his head Minato shook tried to rid himself of the memory of that awful week. He'd failed her: one of his own jounin, who was now in a jail cell, courtesy of the Uchihas, had sold civilian exploding tags, despite knowing the laws, and their hatred of Anko. The jounin had actually approached them, offering to sell, over some foolish vendetta of revenge against Orochimaru for experiments done on orphans. The shinobi had a friend who'd gone missing, an orphan, and a girl eight years his junior and called him 'Nii-san'. That man was testament to his shinobi forces needing mental evaluation.

With monitoring Orochimaru wouldn't have been able to harm Konoha so much. The young jounin wouldn't have become unstable enough to seek revenge on an innocent, using civilians as his unwitting tools. No shinobi should see themselves, or others, as tools. Minato believed that it was the strengths humans brought to battle in order to defend their loved ones that made a shinobi great. The heartless shinobi never achieved anything of which to be proud.

Minato's rambling thoughts had carried him right through the annoying three-minute wait for his precious ramen to be done. The smell of it alone relieved his headache. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all. He had ramen, a daughter to play with at four, and clones to do his paperwork for him. A little headache, easily cured by ramen, was surely worth the hassle of protecting all the children of Konoha.

XxOOxX

Kaiyou stood on the swing, pushing herself to go higher, faster, and laughing her full head off. There were no other children around right now. Kiba and Hinata weren't allowed to come play with her all the time. Hinata had a baby sister, and the Inuzuka boy had a puppy to try to bond with. Kaiyou was an only child, with no mother figure, a busy father, and an uncle who kept staring longingly at bookstores. She figured nii-san (who refused to let her actually CALL him uncle, because he was too young, or so he said--he had GREY HAIR!) was a bit crazy. Bookstores weren't anything to want to go into—books were boring!

She couldn't wait until Kakashi-nii showed up so she could pester him—on orders! A wicked grin lit her face and she jumped off the swing, landing on her hands and feet, before tearing off to the edge of the park, an ANBU who was with her until Kakashi showed up tailing along quietly. She began to collect leaves. She then built a big pile of the them, as if they'd been raked that way, and laid out on the them, tiredly, when she was done, just in time for Kakashi to show up--just as her energy began to raise back up. Poor Kakakshi, if he had only showed up fifteen minutes before he'd have gotten a few minutes of peace….

"Ne, ne, Kakashi-nii! Daddy said you have to! He said it so you have to right?"

A guilty look immediately emerged in his sole eye. "I didn't go into the bookstore, I swear I didn't.." He trailed off when he realized the little girl was blinking confusedly at him. "uhm…what do I have to do again? The wind blew through my ear and I forgot."

Kaiyou sighed at her uncle's dumb excuses. Even she wouldn't fall for that one! "Daddy said to teach me the leaves and the trees….catra something," a confused look passed on her face. She knew there was something wrong with that sentence, besides, the 'something' but she couldn't figure out what. "So teach me teach me! I wanna play with leaves! Can I make them blow up? Will it be cooler than the bunshin thingy-mabob? Or can you teach me to disappear into them like I've seen you and daddy do? Come on old man teach me! PLEASE?"

Kakashi sweatdropped. Dear Kami, Minato-sensei wasn't like this as a kid was he? Because so far, in everything, Kaiyou took after her father…

XxOOxX

Minato sneezed in the middle of writing his final draft of the law he wanted to cajole the counsel into passing. The sneeze shook through his body and made his hand shake, smearing the ink on the scroll. "Shoot! Now where is that scroll detailing the 'Erasing Jutsu' that I'd been meaning to study…"

One month later Minato managed to pass the bill-- he never found the Erasing Jutsu. Apparently it had erased itself from his office… (Or it could have been used as a napkin when he couldn't find one during a ramen lunch one day. His secretary voted for the latter, Minato was positive it was the first.)

A list of his ninja forces that should be investigated early for signs of mental trauma was attached to the passed bill. All ninjas on the list would undergo evaluation, and then counseling if necessary. The list was long—too many of Konoha's shinobi forces had been forced to take lives too young, lost everything they cared about, or were generally reported to be unstable, or had strange occurrences and omissions in their mission reports. Looking at the list he himself had penned, he sighed- there were just too many names. Only once the priority list had been evaluated would anyone else get the attention that should be given to them.

_**Ninja's Who Might Go Crazy**_

Mizuki-- chuunin

Shisui--jounin

Kakashi-- ANBU

Anko-- special jounin

Ibiki-- Torture head

Itachi-- chuunin

Iruka-- chuunin

Tsunade--Sannin

Jiraiya--Sannin

The list went on to include all of the Hyuuga's, since Minato felt that that family was "messed up in the head", and he meant more than just the eyes or the Caged Bird seal. The list had a few more Uchiha clan members, and some Akimichis and Aburames, both clans facing social stigmas that damaged their social interactions. He must admit looking at his list that he'd never convince Jiraiya or Tsunade to undergo counseling…especially since only Jiraiya came around the village. Tsunade still avoided the village where her heart had been broken.

XxOOxX

Okay, that is the first chapter. I anticipate all of them being about this long. And no there won't be any voting for pairings- I already have the main ones decided. I suppose you could request a side pairing. No yaoi or yuri. And yes this fic will go through beyond the chuunin exams. I would love to finish this fic BEFORE Christmas 2008 (even before college resumes in the fall, but no promises there at all…)

Watch for the next chapter-- Ambassadors and Massacres!

_**Simplice**_


	2. Ambassadors and Massacres

Ambassadors and Massacres

Ambassadors and Massacres

A/N: Hmm…drawing skills: people only. Plotline: My mind works differently. Japanese skills: 1 yr of college-level Japanese. Nope no possible way I wrote Naruto. It's been going on so long that I'd have been in elementary school when I started publishing the manga, forget creating the characters or storyline! At that age I was writing stories that were five pages long, had bad spelling, and consisted of leprechauns attacking my friends and I for finding a pot of gold in my back yard. (I literally wrote a story like that—those five pages were handwritten, largely, on white pieces of paper with drawings on the bottom of every page.)

Seriously now, just one more chapter of setting the stage; sorry it is taking so much time, but Minato's presence can change a lot of things! I wanted to keep some of the characters a lot like they originally were, but changes are necessary! I've got a lot of this story really well planned out (I hope) so bare with me for this one more chapter, and then we'll get to the new genin and Kaiyou!

A thanks to Mia-Minamino-Namikaze-Uchiha who was the first to do more than reading my story. Thanks for the "favorite"! And to everyone else who has reviewed, favorited or put my story on his or her alert list!

XxOOxX

Otouto—little brother

Tadaima-- a traditional phrase said upon returning home

Ojiisan/ ojii -- Grandfather

XxOOxX

Hinata, only six years old, best friend to Kiba and Kaiyou, slipped into her bedroom to change into more formal clothes for dinner. She smiled at her reflection and reached to grab a butterfly clip from a small table in her room. A shadowy face suddenly loomed in her mirror, eyes glinting red, and before she could turn, scream or do anything beyond widen her eyes a hand, gloved in black, slipped over her mouth and another yanked a bag over her head. She was unconscious and lugged out of the traditional home before anyone noticed her being delayed to dinner. The figure moved onto stage of his plan: weaken the Uchiha clan, enabling an easier invasion.

He passed a man dressed in traditional garb, hidden in the shadows on his way into the forest behind the Hyuuga complex. The man had just returned from visiting the Branch family grave where his wife lay for all the time to come. In his hurry the young black-haired, red-eyed kidnapper did not notice the Hyuuga.

XxOOxX

Sasuke threw a kunai deep into the target in the Academy's training ground and scowled. He had to be as good as his nii-san! He had to live up to expectations, but how could he do that if when he aimed for the heart his hand trembled, and the kunai instead buried itself into the shoulder. Sasuke couldn't even bring himself to 'kill' a stump with targets on it representing the heart, liver, kidney, or lungs. Kicking the dirt ground, compacted from many feet trampling it in spars over the years he trudged forward and grabbed his dull weapons. The sun was setting; it was time to go home, eat dinner, and avoid questions about his progress from his father. He was only in his first year at the Academy but it was considered unacceptable for an Uchiha to not be in the top two of his class, and Sasuke was the second--but that was not okay with him, not when his older brother had graduated early and still graduated with higher skills than every other student. Itachi was his goal, he wanted to be like his brother.

He wanted to impress his father, but after Itachi's early graduation, and already being a chuunin, almost ready to take the jounin exams at only eleven years old, nothing could impress his father. Sasuke's mother, Mikoto, loved him and said it was okay. But Sasuke wanted attention.

Violently yanking the kunai out of the stump the Academy employed as a target Sasuke scowled and dropped it back into his weapons pouch before heading home. He got quite a shock when he reached his home. All along the way the streets had been strangely empty, but he knew that it was shift change at the jail--many members of his Clan were out of the District right now. Still he didn't see any women coming home with their groceries. The only noise in the district came from his own home, but only after he opened the doors calling out, "Tadaima!"

His greeting, a traditional calling announcing that he had returned, fell onto three sets of ears. His mother, tear-streaked face begging for _him _to stop. His father standing in front of his mother, facing Itachi. Itachi slowly drawing a katana out of his own father before turning, red eyes glinting, towards his little brother. Only eleven years old and he'd killed his father. Only eleven, and he'd killed his father, when he had not even reported in to the family after returning from a mission in the Tea Country.

"Who should I kill first otouto? A civilian woman or an Academy brat, too foolish to even manage to kill a stump? I know all about your cowardice little brother. I think I'll just kill you before you run. Give 'mother dearest' a chance to watch her precious baby die," the man with glinting red eyes and black comma-shaped tomoes, stalked forward to his little brother, who stood frozen in front of the door he'd entered into less than a moment before.

The katana raised, a single drop of blood dripping onto Sasuke's face as it was held above his head. Itachi smirked and began to lower the weapon swiftly, only to curse and redirect his blade flinging two shuriken away from his body as a figure dressed in the traditional robes of the Hyuuga family flung himself through the window.

Hyuuga Hizashi dropped his body into the traditional Jyuuken form, at a disadvantage since his adversary had a longer reach with a bladed weapon. His Byakugan activated, veins pulsating around his pale lavender eyes. Without turning his gaze away, but perfectly aware of Sasuke's shocked movements, collapsing to the floor, tears leaking from his eyes, Hizashi spoke, "Boy get my niece. She's tied up in that bag in the corner by your shrine. Get her to your mother and lay low. This piece of vermin is mine."

Shakingly Sasuke slowly obliged, crawling over to Hinata and pulling her from the bag, unconscious. He looked around for his mom for the first time since his older brother pulled a blade out of his father's chest cavity. She was sobbing, hands soaked in blood as she lay over the body of her husband. Theirs hadn't been an obviously warm marriage, but they'd cared for each other deeply. It hurt more than anything to have had her husband die by her son's hands.

Sasuke couldn't bring himself to go over to his mother and cowered with Hinata, trying to sink into the wall, his body rocking in shock. "Why Nii-san? Why?" His whispered but his words didn't make it beyond the unconscious Hinata's ears. The battle between Hyuuga branch member and Uchiha clan traitor had carried them beyond each other's hearing range.

Sasuke wasn't aware when silent shadows slipped in through the window, figures wearing white cloaks and animal masks. He was only aware of when Hizashi, Hinata's uncle, shoved his hand into Itachi's chest, over his heart, and blood dribbled out of Itachi's mouth as he fell. His blade fell out of his fingers, but remained in its location: skewered through Hizashi's lung. Slowly, despite ANBU rushing over, the Hyuuga's eyes clouded over, even beyond the normal milky lavender.

Only then did ANBU turn to look at the fallen body of Itachi. Or who had been Itachi during the battle, but was now the ambassador from Cloud. ANBU had expected it not to be Itachi. Itachi had been detained for mental evaluation upon returning from his mission, he was under surveillance at present and had not been able to kill his own father, or any of the civilians ANBU had found dead in their own homes.

Itachi hadn't killed his family, but he had been framed for the kidnapping of the Hyuuga heiress, and the murders of many Uchiha clan members.

XxOOxX

Emergency alarms were keeping Kaiyou and her Daddy apart. She didn't like it. She was home from the Academy, and sitting in her quiet house, all alone. Her father was normally home by now. She'd practiced with her kunais with Hinata in the park, a calm relative of hers standing guard over the young heiress. Then, the two had split up to go home for their dinners.

Her father had only been home for a few minutes, promising that they'd go out for ramen. Namikaze Minato had more time lately; he'd passed a law he wanted to and it was just going into effect. He had actually caught up on his paperwork, both of which enabled him to spend more time with his blonde little girl. He'd still been in the process of shedding himself of his formal garb (which he absolutely hated--the hat wouldn't stay on his spiky hair!) when an ANBU had tore into the house reporting that there had been a kidnapping in the Hyuuga Compound and there was a suspicious figure seen near the Uchiha District.

That had been two hours ago and Kaiyou had been alone all of that time. Her dad was working, busy, and so she was left in the kitchen, trying to find some instant ramen for herself. Thankfully that was an easy task for the little girl—she knew just where to find the good stuff! Boiling water was a little more complicated—the short blonde dragged a chair over so that she cold climb onto it and put a kettle over the stove to boil the water.

Unfortunately a watched pot doesn't boil. Kaiyou discovered that a watched kettle doesn't boil either, not even when a little girl is alone in a house and bored. So she did what any little girl of almost-six would do. She searched through the kitchen, looking for anything fun.

The only things she found where birthday candles, but no cake to put them on. Her birthday wasn't for more than another week—the cake would go bad if her daddy had already purchased it.

Hearing the whistle blow, finally, on her boiling water she jumped up, letting the candles fall back into the drawer they came out of, and pranced over to the water. She poured it carefully into her instant ramen, closed the lid, placed a pair of chopsticks on it so that the noodles would cook properly, and tried to figure out how to distract herself during the dreaded three-minute wait.

Thinking back to the candles in the drawer (which she'd left open) Kaiyou got a bright idea. She'd re-read one of the books her ojiisan had written for her. He brought one every time he visited, a thin little book about heroes and heroines, true love, and proud ninjas, samurais, spies and kings. Jiraiya-ojii also brought a copy of the book, much thicker, for her nii-san that had a funny symbol on the orange cover.

Grabbing her ramen noodles, which were almost done, and the chopsticks Kaiyou happily clambered up to her room. She would read the book and eat ramen until Minato came home from the emergency.

An hour later, a belly full of ramen, and a story to relax her, Kaiyou dimly realized she hadn't asked what the emergency was. ANBU-san had not spoken about it loudly enough for her to hear. She also wondered vaguely if he was the one watching out for her. When emergencies happened that kept him away from home when she was there Minato always had somebody look out for his little girl, lest she become a pawn in an inter-village dispute. None of them but Kakashi would ever come inside to guard her. It was always so lonely when Daddy had to take care of an emergency and she couldn't help…

XxOOxX

Minato cursed and slammed his fist down hard onto his desk, controlling his strength just enough so that he broke nothing beyond a pencil. ANBU had been too late onto the scene. A six year old boy, in his own daughters' class, had witnessed his 'brother' murder his father, then be killed by, and kill, Hyuuga Hizashi.

His new law was trying to prevent trauma, and a Cloud _ambassador_ had to go and ruin everything he was trying to work towards. All out of some misguided concept of hatred. Both sides had lost people that were precious in previous wars--to hold a grudge and want to kidnap children in order to strengthen a village, just so that they could go to war and actually win 'this time' was a foolish move in Minato's eyes.

Not only would the survivors of the Uchiha clan--all 20 who had been guarding Konoha's prison, a few civilians, along with Sasuke, Mikoto and Itachi need counseling (not that Itachi wasn't already on Namikaze's list) but so would young Hyuuga Neji. His father had died, leaving him an orphan of the Hyuuga branch family, in an effort to save his cousin's life, and the life of a younger boy.

Children, Minato knew, should not be forced into knowing of the mortality of a shinobi's life, first-hand, at such a young age. Children should be children, allowed to grow up strong, courageous and honorable, fighting only to protect what they love. In a shinobi village that meant taking missions to bolster the village's reputation, protecting all that they hold dear within the village from wars that served no purpose.

Obviously the Kage of Cloud believed differently, allowing his ambassador to attempt to kidnap the Hyuuga heiress.

Minato spent the whole of that night, but for a few brief hours of sleep, dealing with the political repercussions of a foreign ambassador dying in battle on Leaf soil. Other matters also had to be attended to: counting the dead, and searching for bodies of the Uchiha clan, taking testimonies as proof of the ambassadors wrongdoing, and finding someplace for the surviving Uchiha's to stay, temporarily, as none would want to live where so many of their relatives died, so soon after the fact.

Eventually it was learned that only one Uchiha could not be accounted for, but none could hazard a guess at where he was. He was not registered to be on a mission, could not be found in any of the training grounds, no body could be found. It was a week before Minato even got around to trying to decide whether to label one Uchiha Shisui dead, or a missing-nin. Only thirty members of the Uchiha clan were left alive and accounted for; Itachi, Sasuke, Mikoto, seven civilians-four of which were in critical condition in the hospital, and twenty ninjas in Konoha's police force. Twelve of those in the police force would soon be mourning their children, and one or two of them even grandchildren. Much of the Uchiha family had been extinguished.

Another duty of his was to explain to the village what had happened. They deserved to know. But more importantly he had to break it to Itachi and the other Uchiha members who had not been present at the time of the massacre.

XxOOxX

A large part of Itachi wanted to sneak out of the hospital room he'd been detained in upon arriving back in Konoha from his B-rank solo mission. All he'd wanted when he got home was to enjoy the company of his little brother and to sneak a box of Pocky while avoiding his parents fawning.

Instead he was sitting in a hospital room, having long ago finished his first session of evaluation. Itachi wasn't very comfortable with the whole thing--it was … unlike him to let somebody into his mind. There were few people who truly got to know him, and fewer people who would see a sincere, soft, smile on his face. He thought about skipping out of the room, but he'd been asked to wait. And wait. And wait.

Something was going on. Itachi knew that much: the Yondaime never made anybody wait for hours on end like this, and wouldn't tolerate it. But nevertheless that was whom he was waiting on. Did the man go home to his kid already and forget him? (Itachi couldn't remember if it was a girl or a boy—he ignored all the photos on the desk when he went into the Hokage's office to turn in mission reports. He figured he probably should take a look next time he went in.)

Finally the door opened and in walked a man with longer blonde hair, falling down his neck in spikes. He'd already tossed his Hokage hat away, but still suffered through the robes. Itachi vaguely wondered why anybody would want the job--a lot of work, annoying 'uniform' and tons of paperwork.

Only after he'd spent a moment noticing that the Hokage was there did he notice that the Yondaime had a face of stone. Did he fail his mental evaluation that badly?

No, it turns out his family had been slaughtered. And then the number of mental health sessions he'd need to take was upped--by a years' worth of sessions. Itachi began to wonder if the Yondaime disliked him--a thought that would come back to him a few years down the road.

So much for an evening with Sasuke and Pocky.

XxOOxX

Hyuuga Hiashi was not a happy man. His wife had died a year before giving birth to his younger daughter, Hanabi. His brother had had the Caged Bird Seal placed upon him when they were children, just because Hizashi had been the younger of the two twins. His oldest child, Hinata, had been kidnapped at dinner-time that evening. His brother had died rescuing her from the Cloud ambassador who had masqueraded as the young Uchiha prodigy.

With a glower at all of those around them he took his daughter, who had cried herself to sleep, into his arms. The ANBU who had brought her to him nodded his masked-head. "She and Sasuke were found in the room when we arrived on the scene, just barely to late to help your brother. Medically she is fine, along with the Uchiha boy. Both, however, could stand for a lot of love. Yondaime feels that they are too young to have witnessed the deaths of a loved one."

Hiashi nodded. He and Minato normally got along fairly well, and were friends to a degree. Normally Hiashi would say that the Yondaime had softened too much, and that there was nothing wrong with young ninjas advancing quickly. But he too had seen the damages wrought by Orochimaru, and he too was a father. No father wanted their child to grow up and grow colder with each life they took, not understanding that lives were only to be taken when necessary to secure your own, or your precious one's safety. He wanted his daughters to grow up tough, without fear, and skilled. But their hearts were not to be cold.

"I will see Minato in the morning then?" His voice was firm. It was not a request, not really. He knew that Minato would want to talk to him. The only question was when.

"Yes, he will see about ten, if that is acceptable Hyuuga-sama?"

Hyuuga Hiashi merely nodded and turned away carrying his daughter into his home. Young Neji was waiting for his cousin and father, but had fallen asleep in the entry, leaning against the floor. Gently scooping the young boy of seven up he carried Neji, along with his daughter into his room and set them on a large futon.

He'd break the news to them in the morning.

XxOOxX

Minato looked at the moon, already scooting back out of the sky then hurried his footsteps back to his home where his little girl was waiting for him to come home. He'd never fulfilled his promise of ramen for dinner that night for her. Kaiyou would berate him for that later, he knew.

He eventually found her curled up in front of the window in her room, one of the books Jiraiya had written out. Minato was very thankful that it wasn't one of his eh-hem, 'literature' books that Jiraiya wrote, such as what Kakashi read.

Scooping his daughter up, Minato smiled when Kaiyou opened her blue eyes up, looking blearily at him. "Daddy? You're late for ramen," she muttered as she fell back asleep. Chuckling, glad this his little girl would always be the same happy-go-lucky, loving prankster who enjoyed her training sessions with her nii-san, he slipped her onto her western style bed.

"Sleep tight, stay safe," he murmured at his little girl. Kaiyou didn't even roll over in her sleep.

XxOOxX

That's that chapter! Next chapter will be after a length time skip--all the way to Kaiyou being twelve years old and graduating from the Academy.


	3. School's Out!

School's Out: Forever

School's Out: Forever?

A/N: If I owned Naruto I wouldn't be here.

On another note: Thank you again mina-san for reviewing, favoriting, and alerting this story!

XxOOxX

Ero-jichan-- perverted old man

Hentai—pervert

Bentou—lunch box

Uke—commonly referred to as a position of 'less power' in a homosexual relationship

XxOOxX

"Ne, ne Shika-kun! I have this great prank in mind, could you help me with it? It'll be really funny," a girl leaned over and said energetically to her crush. Her crush, Shikamaru, decided that it was too troublesome to even say so, and rolled over, eyes away from her as he tried to return to his nap.

Kaiyou wasn't quite sure why she liked the boy sometimes. Sure he had a great mind, and the time or two she'd gotten him to help her plan a prank they had gone off spectacularly. She really appreciated his devious mind. But she hated his laziness. Naturally she kicked him and tried to cajole him into pulling pranks with her and Kiba. Just as naturally the boy, who disliked troublesome women, backed away from pranks with her even more. She was worse than his mother.

Kaiyou was known to the whole Academy as a prankster, who ignored the lessons during class. She wasn't the sort of person who could learn from reading a book or hearing a lecture very well. She learned from _doing_. History only became real to her when she saw it acted out, or got to really experience it, theory was a little better because it could be shown more easily. The Namikaze girl was also known as boisterous, loud, a complete tomboy (except for her obvious crush on Shikamaru) and powerful. Nobody, except the youngest Uchiha and his loyal banshees, would even attempt to deny that she was skilled.

How could she not be skilled when her nii-san had been training her in chakra control? When she went to the Academy and got the required assistance from the teachers when she needed it? When her father, the Hokage, drilled her in taijutsu before she could eat ramen?

Despite her skill she was disliked by much of the class. Because she was loud, which is exactly what a ninja isn't supposed to be. When she was younger she'd worn bright orange and still to this day wore a red-orange vest over her dark clothing, for goodness' sakes. The only people she was really close to in her class, both because of her reputation as being trouble and having managed to tick off Sasuke's fangirls, were Hinata and Kiba.

She'd been friends with those two for years, having grown up playing, and training, with them in the park. Kiba was just as loud as she was. Hinata was the quiet one in the group, soft-spoken normally, and often too shy and self-conscious, but she knew how to stand up for herself. After the kidnapping she'd experienced as a child, after her mothers' death bearing Hanabi, Hinata had lost some of her self-confidence and had become even quieter and gentler. Kaiyou had squashed that right out of her—Hinata was the largest reason that Kiba and Kaiyou weren't in trouble more often than they were.

Minato always enjoyed seeing the village stirred up by his daughter's pranks. Though even he would have been angry with the girl if she pulled one every time they popped into her head. Without knowing it he owed his sanity to Hinata. He also owed a great deal to Shikamaru for ignoring his daughter; despite the small disappointment it caused her.

If Shikamaru had not ignored Kaiyou that day she would have been painting his face, and that of his monument, turning them into bowls of ramen. Instead, since Shikamaru had ignored her that prank would not happen, at least not today. That day his face would not have semi-permanent paint on it.

Today, the day she was ignored by Shikamaru for the fiftieth time that week (she was almost as persistent as Sasuke's fan girls, but she was just trying to get attention, NOT ask him out) was the day of the genin exams.

Luckily for Kaiyou a distraction was quickly provided after her fifty-first try to get Shikamaru's attention. "I'll leave you alone for the rest of the week if you help me plan the prank," she had wheedled.

"Troublesome liar," Shikamaru muttered and covered his ears. He had the girl figured out quite well, thank you very much.

"Wha! But…I AM NOT A LIAR" However nobody heard her fierce denial. Ino and Sakura, the presidents of the Sasuke-Fan-Club had just shoved their way into the room, shoulder-to-shoulder.

"I got in here first Ino-pig! The seat next to Sasuke is mine!"

"Did not billboard-brow! I was at least a nose in front of you! And you cheated by stepping on my foot!"

"I cheated? You cheated pig! You tried to pull my hair…"

Listening to the argument Kaiyou's temper frayed and she walked up to her arch-nemesis who was trying to avoid wincing. Leaning forward she glared at the arrogant Uchiha.

"Why don't you call them off," she huffed. "It's not like you need the ego-boost of having ugly girls screaming over you all day," she glared right into his coal-black eyes.

Sasuke slowly turned his head around as she spoke and caught her eyes. Some part of him wanted to look into her eyes calmly and let them convey a message crying out for help. But no way on earth would he admit it to one of the strongest kunoichis in class that he couldn't handle the pathetically skilled kunoichis who sought his heart. Some part of him wanted to say he'd much rather have her attention, but he would never admit that to Kaiyou.

So he cowardly began a staring contest. That ended in a kiss as Ino and Sakura carried their fight right over to the two and knocked the kunoichi over as the two jockeyed for position by Sasuke.

Kaiyou immediately pulled away as soon as she realized what was happening and grabbed her tongue, scratching at it and biting her lips. Apparently she thought she'd much rather taste blood. Sasuke was choking, in anger, confusion and fear.

The fangirls had seen….

XxOOxX

All of the students had passed the test to become genin. They were told to come on Monday to get their ninja ID taken and to get assigned to their genin team. Kaiyou ran out of the class, pulling along Kiba and Hinata. The girl had fading bruises all over her body, but she didn't let them get her down.

"Finally, we're out! No more Academy," Kaiyou was running around in circles trying to not scream her head off. Really, she tried to be mature sometimes--it made a good impression on Shikamaru.

Kiba was on the same page as her, however Hinata was more thoughtful. "We need to come back and visit Iruka-sensei sometimes though," she said quietly, without a stutter.

The three friends conversed for a moment more before Kaiyou ran off towards her home and left the other two to face their families' questions. Her father was too busy to come see her graduate from the academy, and Kakashi-nii-san was out on a mission. She'd rather just go home, grab her wallet and head to Ichiraku's.

On her way out of the Academy ground she turned a corner and ran square into the back of a short man. Well, he was short, but still a fair bit taller than she was. Immediately seeing the Uchiha fan upon his back on a blue shirt and noticing black hair she pulled away from his steadying hand.

"Hentai! Sasuke keep your hands off of me—" Suddenly Kaiyou blushed madly. The man had longer hair than Sasuke did, and he was taller by a little bit. When he turned around and faced her with an amused look in his black eyes she gave him a huge grin. "Oops?"

The man glanced at her, bemusedly looking her over. Blonde hair with crimson streaks that looked natural, done up in a very spiky messy bun, big blue eyes, three whisker-marks on each cheek, short, and the bright vest. The fishnet shirt and black cargo pants with kunai holsters barely registered, as they were standard. Instantly, when he got a look at her more unique features, the man knew he was looking at the Hokage's daughter.

"Pardon me Namikaze-san. I didn't realize otouto was a pervert," Itachi said calmly.

"Otouto? Eh? You're Sasuke's onii!...hehe…well, uhm, bye," she said running off. Itachi was slightly confused: what had Sasuke done to the girl?

Sensing his little brother Itachi turned to face him. Sasuke, who had seen the confrontation, had a tiny blush upon his pale cheeks. Turning to walk home with his brother Sasuke muttered, "It wasn't my fault. She was pushed into me, I didn't mean to kiss her I swear!"

Only after it was out of his mouth did Sasuke realize that he'd just inserted his foot into his mouth. Itachi hadn't known why Kaiyou had called him a pervert. Now, by Sasuke's own words, he did. His mother … oh gosh he didn't want to know what his mother would say when she found out.

XxOOxX

It was dinner-time when Minato finally arrived home, with Kakashi in tow. Kakashi didn't look pleased to be at the Namikaze home, at least not pulled along by the edge of his mask, which he didn't want to lose. For a man who would willingly read certain orange books walking down the street in front of women, he cared an awful lot about a woman's perspective on him, hiding away his scars.

"Hi Daddy! So what technique are you going to teach me? Huh? Huh?" Kaiyou was bouncing up and down with far too much energy. She was twelve, an Academy graduate, a new genin and proudly wearing her hitai-ate but sometimes she still acted like a four-year-old.

"So you passed then did you? Good, couldn't have any less from any daughter of mine. All Namikaze's are to be pranksters, pass their exams and fall in love with ramen! We're a small powerhouse family, so the scroll will work on upping your chakra manipulation. But first ramen and a celebration!"

Now that was Kaiyou's language. Kakashi just sweat-dropped. Sure the man liked ramen, but really, ramen and cake as a celebration for becoming a genin..?

XxOOxX

Kaiyou sat in her seat, and ignored the two banshees not being about to be manhandled into kissing the arrogant boy again. Some part of her wished it was Shikamaru who had gotten her first kiss, and it annoyed her that he had only muttered a "troublesome" after the …event…of the week before.

She ignored the banshees because of wanting to avoid anything connected to the arrogant boy who couldn't control his squealing pets. She also ignored them because today she wanted to be serious, to accept the mission and prove herself worthy of becoming a genin for real.

Thankfully she didn't have to ignore them too long at all as Iruka-sensei showed up fairly quickly. His speech about what it meant to be a genin, a low-ranking ninja, was far from quickly over. It took all of Kaiyou's strength of mind to ignore the man without falling asleep. Some other students, namely Shikamaru, wasn't as determined. Finally the speech came to an end.

"Alright. Now that you are all aware of what it means to be a genin I will announce the teams to you. After which point you will eat your bentou, return here for a short meeting with your new Jounin sensei before going to the Hokage Tower to have your photo ID taken. "

The first teams that Iruka announced were full of fan-girls, and boys who didn't spend a great amount of time on their taijutsu. None of them were people that Kaiyou knew very well. It was at the seventh that people were holding their breath after the first name was called, and some people were pleased while others were disappointed.

"Team Seven consists of Uchiha Sasuke, Aburame Shino and Namikaze Kaiyou under Jounin Hatake Kakashi" Iruka-sensei had to pause for a minute, waiting it out, as the whole class reacted.

Kaiyou was desperately trying not to make herself bang her head on her desk, and failing. Her voice, uncharacteristically soft could be heard by Hinata to mutter, "No, anyone but the arrogant hentai.."

Said arrogant hentai, Sasuke, kept a stoic face, but for a small smirk. _'No fan girls'_ went through his head repeatedly, a pleased mantra.

Shino's thoughts couldn't even be guessed at by any of the other genin present. However surely his ears were ringing, as were everyone else's, at the volume of protests let out by the fan girls.

"Why is the dumb blonde on a team with my Sasuke? He should be mine, yeah!" yelled out, you guessed it, Sakura.

"No way he's mine! He likes thin blondes with fashion sense way better," at that comment by Ino the rest of the class erupted into yells, claiming he liked blue-eyes, brown hair, curly hair, chubby girls…

Iruka had no choice but to cast a quick genjutsu as he yelled, "SHUT UP!" Seeing that the arguments had quickly broken off he nodded. "That's better. Now if I may continue? Team 8, Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura and Hyuuga Hinata will be lead by Kurenai."

Kaiyou wasn't sure whether to pity her two friends or to pity herself. They got to be on a team together. They also got annoying fan girl #1. She got the arrogant jerk that wouldn't disillusion his fangirls. She decided that she needed to pity all three of them, but on the plus side they would see a lot of each other, because surely Sakura, who was actually smart, would manage to wrangler her team into being near her precious Sasuke.

After a brief pause to make sure the three genin in question had paid attention, Iruka went on naming Team 10. Team ten was to be lead by Sarutobi Asuma, the Third Hokage's youngest son, and said man was to be training the newest combination of Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji. Kaiyou stored that little fact away in her mind, to know who was on a team with her crush. She'd be able to find him easier if she knew where to look, beyond his usual hill for cloud watching.

As a break for lunch was announced, after which the teams would all meet up Kaiyou found a silent boy in a trench coat and sunglasses standing before her. It seemed he was smart enough to at least know that this was an opportunity for team bonding (which was good, considering Iruka had gone out and suggested it) that he shouldn't pass up.

Kaiyou jumped up. "Lunch, lunch…hmm…did Daddy pack ramen today," she muttered to herself and began to steer Shino out of the classroom. Standing outside the building she found Sasuke hiding in the shadows waiting for them.

"Took you long enough moron," he said dismissively as he fell in step with Shino and Kaiyou.

It would have been a very silent lunch, if it weren't for Kaiyou. Sasuke spoke infrequently his vocabulary largely, "moron", "hnn", "that's too easy", and "pathetic". Shino offered an occasional quiet, well thought-out, but monotonous remark to the blue-eyed girl. In the brief spaces where Kaiyou wasn't talking their ears off about pranks, training, ramen or some other subject that Sasuke considered as not with his time, bugs could be heard humming.

Having finally noticed that fact Kaiyou began to look around. "I hope we aren't sitting near a bee hive," she muttered. Sasuke just stared at her. Sure the girl wasn't good at book smarts, and wasn't terribly good at paying attention but…it took her twenty minutes to notice…

Shino merely looked at Kaiyou. "I have Kikai bugs with me. They will not harm you unless I direct you to do so." Kaiyou looked amazed, bugged him to see one, and generally began to finally talk less. With five minutes of lunch left.

Kakashi was only an hour later than all of the other Jounins to pick up his team. Kaiyou had had some positive influence on him. Any more than an hour and he was afraid of what pranks she would pull on him, and her telling her father. Minato didn't need to know that he slacked off, occasionally, when training his daughter.

He was in luck; Kaiyou wasn't quite bored enough yet to have pulled a prank. "My first impression is…you're boring," he deadpanned at the three genin present, before instructing them to meet him on the roof. Sitting on the roof with his orange book out, he sneakily observed the three as they arrived. Kaiyou bounced along, as expected. Sasuke and Shino walked along in a more dignified manner.

Rolling his single natural eye at his students he shook his head lightly. This was going to be a .. fun.. genin group. Two silent boys and an obnoxious girl. "Alright I'm your jounin sensei. Introduce yourself, likes, dislikes, dreams…" he said lazily.

Kaiyou grinned at him. "Uh uh uh nii-san. It is polite to introduce yourself first," she said mimicking something she'd heard Sasuke say once.

"Hatake Kakashi. Jounin. My likes…My dislikes…my hobbies," a tiny smile could be detected in his eyes. "I dunno what my dreams are," he finished.

The two boys remained expressionless while they inwardly felt annoyed. They hadn't learned anything. Yet. With a grin Kaiyou began speaking in a completely awful masculine voice somewhat like a sports announcer, "Nii-san's likes are X-rated, he's too lazy to have any dislikes. His hobbies are reading the porno books grandpa writes. He's so obsessed with that he doesn't have any dreams. Sad, sad man," she finished and ducked a kunai that her 'brother' had thrown at her.

"Sasuke-hentai don't pick up any of his habits," she said glaring at said boy.

Ignoring the kunai he'd thrown, which had fallen harmlessly to the floor near where the stairs came out onto the roof, Kakashi pointed at Shino. "Faceless wonder, you're up."

Everybody stared at Kakashi…who was he to talk about hiding faces? In his calm voice, belying the mild annoyance he felt, Shino introduced himself. "Aburame Shino. My likes are my family and my Kikai bugs. My dislikes are those who murder my allies. My hobbies are collecting insects to study and adapt for usage. My dream is to breed a new species of Kikai."

_Hmm..so far a prankster and a boy obsessed with bugs. Guess I can't blame him for that—he is an Aburame._

"You next Seafood," Kakashi said with a mild look upon his face. Vengeance was his as 3…2…1…Kaiyou blew up.

"STOP calling me that ero-jichan! Just because my name means ocean and…" Kaiyou suddenly realized what she was saying and clammed up. She did not want her new teammates to know THAT embarrassing story!

"Hmph. Namikaze Kaiyou," she muttered. "My likes are ramen, my dad, my friends and training with Cyclops here. My dislikes are hentai boys who don't keep their fangirls in like because they don't want to admit that they're gay and fangirls. OH waiting for ramen to cook too. My hobbies are pranking and my dream is to protect everyone I care about! But not Hokage--Daddy has WAY too much paperwork to do." Well at least she didn't think that she wanted to become Hokage, but she definitely wanted to be as strong as her dad!

Sasuke was glaring, Shino had a small expression of disbelief showing on his face, what was visible of it, and Kakashi was trying not to laugh. Restraining himself from laughing was one thing, from not commenting was another. "You next uke," he directed towards Sasuke.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he said with a scowl. "My likes are my family. My dislikes…" Had a fangirl been there they might have squealed when they saw his eyes flick towards them—hey, they thought negative attention was better than none at all. "Annoying girls," he finished instead. Kaiyou scowled, assuming he was talking about her, as he'd called her annoying on multiple occasions that day. "My hobbies are training and my dream is to become stronger than my brother."

Kaiyou perked up a bit at that, then blushed, remembering that she'd called him 'Sasuke' and a pervert. Still, she was curious about the man a little bit. There was something about him that had caught her attention but she didn't know what. The boys assumed that she was still red-faced from anger about having interpreted his statement as meaning that he disliked her.

Kakashi sighed. _A prankster, a bug-lover, and a stoic boy who only dreams of power on a team together. This'll be really fun--why on earth did Minato put his own daughter with two silent boys?_

"Alright you three. Now that you know each other I want you to go home and prepare. Tomorrow at 5 o'clock am I want you three to meet at training area 7 for a field survival test."

"Survival test?" queried Sasuke. "That'll be easy."

Shino squinted his eyes suspiciously behind his glasses and Kaiyou tilted her head in a curious manner, which reminded Kakashi of a fox pup.

"I advise you bring all of your ninja equipment when you meet me and 5 am, and don't eat anything. You'll just throw it up. And be war—"

"When he says 5 am expect at least an hour later. Another hobby of his is making up pathetic excuses when he comes late, which he always does unless Daddy is there," Kaiyou quipped.

Kakashi glared at the preteen. "When I am on time you aren't, Kai-chan," turning back to all three of them he grinned. "Be warned there is a 66.6 failure rate in this exam. Only those who pass will get to go on missions—the others return to the Academy. Or quit."

And he vanished before they could ask anymore questions. All three of them just had one question, though.

_Why didn't onii-san/daddy/father mention another test?_ Itachi, Minato, and Shino's family hadn't bothered mentioning another test, because two of them thought it would be amusing to see the faces, and the third wasn't asked. Not that they would have ever told the 12-year-olds how to pass the test.

That was for them to figure out, if Kaiyou would stop yelling at Sasuke.

XxOOxX

Okay, another chapter down. Next time will be the survival exam and their first missions. Torture! Plus a little bit of stalking Shikamaru might be thrown in. I hope the humor I threw into this chapter made it feel like a nice welcome to Kaiyou's life. It might be Tuesday or so before I update again.


	4. Surviving the Dranks

A/N: Wow, there are a lot of people who have read this story

A/N: Wow, there are a lot of people who have read this story! As a thank you to everyone I want to share with you the statistics on this story: 14 reviews, 2203 hits, it is in 11 communities, has 17 favorites and 53 story alerts. Thank you all for spending time reading this story! That is as of 7:31 pm PST on June 28. WOW.

Oh: insert standard HERE: blah blah blah. I wish.

XxOOxX

Emotou—little sister

Outoto—little brother

Otou-san-- a father

Aa-- yes (more masculine than hai)

Yatta-- an exclamation, like yelling "YES!" or "Cool!" in English.

XxOOxX

Eventually even Kaiyou gets bored of yelling at Konoha's arrogant, resident hentai-gay boy. And so she departed to get her photo taken. Her father had left orders with the photographer not to take any photo in which she was not looking normal--blonde hair with reddish highlights knotted at the back of her head, tan skin, thin black whisker-marks, blue eyes, a rusty-orange vest, and dark shirts and pants (which ranged from blue to black on any given day).

Having expected her father to do as much Kaiyou had only made a half-hearted attempt by using a mild genjutsu to make her eyes purple, hoping the photographer wouldn't notice. He did. Kaiyou left with a completely normal ninja ID, listing her as a genin of Konoha. She was on her way back home when she saw a large, square rock following her. A wicked grin lighting up her face Kaiyou slipped around a corner.

When the rock followed her she sat on it, with a yawn. "Lucky this rock is here, I don't think I could make it home I'm so tired," she lamented putting all of her weight on the cardboard contraption.

"Nee-chan OFF," mumbled a voice from under the rock. "You're killing us," Konohamaru cried out.

"I dunno, I think you three should be punished for such a lousy disguise. Ah well, I can't very well hurt Udon or Moegi." Standing up she let the three younger Academy students up. Suddenly an idea occurred to her.

"Neh, neh, Konohamaru! Wanna' do me a favor? Huh?"

Grinning at his 'nee-chan' the younger boy looked up. "Only if you teach us your cool jutsu, the one where you become a boy, so we can escape better after pulling pranks!"

Obviously Kaiyou had been a bad influence on Sarutobi's grandson. She gladly took the deal though. "Okay! I'll even teach all three of you. It's a pretty simple variation on the henge. BUT before I teach you Konohamaru you have to promise to find out about what Shika-kun is doing—where his team trains and when they're leaving on missions. Okay?"

The three kids sweatdropped. Couldn't Kaiyou just find out herself or ask her dad? (The answer was no—she didn't think her dad could deal with her having a crush. The first time she'd come home saying that girls were chasing Sasuke he'd just about gone through the roof, yelling that they were too young to know anything about _love_.)

So the deal was made and Kaiyou spent the next hours, the last of her free time before her survival test in the morning, teaching three pranksters how to avoid getting captured. Nobody looked for Kaiyou to become a blonde haired little kid after pulling a prank, letting her walk right by chuunins who were chasing her. She'd kept her jutsu a secret to all but fellow pranksters--her young protégés would do well. And she'd keep tabs on Shikamaru.

XxOOxX

Kaiyou didn't eat breakfast, just an apple early in the morning. She did bring her frog wallet with her so she could buy ramen as soon as the survival training was over. Deciding her older brother would be late she didn't show up to Training Area 7 until 7 am. Shino and Sasuke were already there. Kakashi didn't arrive until 9. She wondered vaguely if he was later than usual as part of the test, or if she had ticked him off yesterday outing him about always being late.

So for two hours she was stuck with two silent boys. One who annoyed the hell out of her. She was beginning to think that Hinata and Kiba had the better team--at least Sakura talked, and who knows, maybe she could be decent without Sasuke around? …Nah. Kaiyou didn't quite believe that.

Her morning was spent trying to get Shino and Sasuke to talk. Turns out the two boys were even quieter in the morning. Kaiyou had already realized the day before that Shino could talk about bugs forever, and bore her to death in the process. Sure it would be interesting for the first few hours. But after that bugs just weren't on her list of interests. Now if bugs made ramen it would be a different story.

Sasuke on the other hand only insulted her when they spoke. Nice words didn't come out of his mouth… Kaiyou realized that she wasn't sure that he had any friends at all. Most of the time he was just this enigma, a haughty boy who did nothing to stop fangirls from fawning all over him, beyond glaring at the whole world. She knew about his family, some, but surely he wasn't a bitter old coot already!

It was determined by Kaiyou that she would get these two out of their shells. Or go insane trying. The silence was threatening to her: silence meant that she was being watched, that friends weren't near; that when she left people would whisper about her—the Hokage's daughter, the demon. Silence was enough to drive Kaiyou crazy.

Maybe the boys would talk about their families? Kiba always seemed willing to. Hinata didn't talk about hers as much, but hey, she didn't talk as much as Kiba or Kaiyou did period. "Neh, Shino-kun? Did you ask about the testing from your dad? I didn't even TRY asking mine, he would just evade my questions…"

Aburame turned his bespectacled eyes towards the girl on the team. Slowly, in his quiet, serious voice he spoke. "Aa, he informed me that only teams that have all members pass may take missions as ninja. He did not inform me what happens to those who fail, or give advice as to how best to accomplish attaining a passing grade."

Kaiyou blinked. Why did Shino have to use such big words? It sounded faintly like gibberish to her.

Sasuke noticed her confused expression. "Pff, I should have known they'd saddle me with a dobe. You may have some skill, but you're just another dumb blonde." Preventing the girl from getting violent or worse, yelling in his ears, Sasuke decided to translate Shino's speech. "Dobe, he means all of us must pass or we all fail. Most of the genin teams will fail."

Understanding flashed into Kaiyou's eyes. Now she knew what the test would be about! Her dad was always talking about teamwork, that he normally assigned missions in teams. They'd already been assigned a team. This wasn't testing individual survival skills, like they did at the Academy. This exam tested whether they would manage to survive with each other.

The question was: survive what?

The three genin lapsed back into silence, but for the occasional remark about Kaiyou not having given them enough warning about how late Kakashi was (Sasuke) commenting that if Kakashi made a habit of being late their advancement through the ranks would be delayed (Shino) and complaining that they should have eaten more for breakfast, perhaps ramen (Kaiyou). Shino gave a nod to the other two and then stood up, a small bug flitting over and landing on his finger.

Paying heed to the unspoken cue Sasuke stood up as well, followed by Kaiyou who finally caught on. Just then Kakashi walked up to the bridge lazily, hiding away an orange book. He'd learned his lesson: no orange books were to be read within sight of Kaiyou.

The three didn't even bother informing Kakashi that he was late: Kaiyou had warned them that such a comment would result in an annoying, obvious lie being told as means of an excuse. "So what do we have to survive? Are we going camping," Kaiyou asked.

Kakashi chuckled and presented a pair of two silver bells. "No, you have to get these and survive me. You have two hours. Only those with a bell pass."

"But I thought we work in te—" Sasuke slammed his hand over the girls' mouth, and dragged her off as Kakashi chuckled and announced that they should begin.

XxOOxX

_Did they already figure it out_ Kakshi mused. The three genin had disappeared even before he had finished saying 'begin'. He began to look around for signs of their movement, sensing for their chakra signatures. He found all three of them together and smiled lightly. So they were going to think this through. He patted the bells my his waist. They could plan all that they wanted, but if Kaiyou didn't keep quiet, and unless they showed some skills that he was not expecting they still would not manage to get the bells. Not when he knew they were coming.

They had some tricks up their sleeves however. Tricks that went by the name of Kaiyou having inside information, distracting him. Tricks by the name of fire jutsus performed by Sasuke, and tricks by the names of tiny Kikai bugs having already been on his person, allowing the three genin to know exactly where

The three genin used a very underhanded technique. Kaiyou distracted him, sending twenty different clones at him of herself, and two of Shino and Sasuke apiece. Unbeknownst to Kakashi Shino's clones were created by him, and as soon as Kakashi hit the clones to dispel them they broke into bugs that swarmed him, draining his chakra. All the while Kaiyou continued to make clones, all of them of Sasuke and herself, with the two of them intermixed. It was now a taijutsu only battle on Kakashi's end. A battle he was distracted, and mildly fearful during.

"..Yesterday I caught you with that orange book open on the rooftop during Sasuke's introduction, and the week before while I was at the park training with Hinata you opened it and read it under the tree instead of paying attention to our chakra control exercises. Maybe I should tell my dad about that?" All of the clones were chanting at him, telling him different times at which he had disobeyed her fathers' orders about never reading porn in front of his daughter. Needless to say he was scared, and trying to tune her words out. It wasn't completely successful.

Sasuke's clones were running around, him interspersed between them. When he made to use a katon jutsu, so did all of the clones at the same time. When he broke into taijutsu so did all of them. The clones weren't real, thankfully they hadn't taught Kaiyou the shadow clone jutsu yet. No, she got to learn that after she mastered the new control technique she'd been awarded for graduating. Then he'd really be in trouble.

Sasuke, and then Kaiyou landed a hit. Suddenly a clone behind him had a kawarimi no jutsu used on it and turned into Shino, who restrained him. The bells were gone within seconds. Sasuke spoke up. "Hmm the dobe and I have bells, and Shino has you. I think we pass don't you?"

Kakashi wanted to hit his head._ I never should have underestimated them. Sensei is going to laugh his head off. These brats aren't going to give me any time to myself. None! I'll never get back to my story; poor Natsuki and panda-kun! Wait for me…_ Kakashi's mind might have been shutting down on the inside, but he did managed to nod his head that the group of genin passed. "Same time tomorrow. Training and missions. Now go away," he grumbled.

Shino released him, and Kaiyou and Sasuke backed off, Kaiyou dispelling all of the clones. So many clones, so much chakra left. But the expenditure of chakra, and the light breakfast had left her hungry. "Let's go get ramen," she cried out and grabbed the wrists of the boys, manhandling them, dragging them towards Ichiraku's.

XxOOxX

A month later and Kaiyou and Sasuke still fought like cats and dogs, most days. Sasuke would smile at Kaiyou occasionally, and she would needle him into being more social. The two had somehow, miraculously, become good friends. Shino had also opened up more, but he was still quiet around the two. He made observations, helped everyone come up with plans, and argued against eating at Ichiraku's Ramen. He was the first person to convince Kaiyou that maybe vegetables would be a good idea; why else was she so petite? Her father wasn't that short to warrant a daughter that was under five feet tall, at 12 years old.

Kakashi wondered how Shino, with Sasuke's assistance, had managed that feat. The two boys were louder and spoke more often, if only to shut Kaiyou up. With two more friends to add to her collection of precious people, Kaiyou managed to be a little bit quieter. She had learned that it was important to listen to what friends' said. Otherwise there would be fighting, and Kaiyou—though loud, annoying, and brash, sincerely wanted her friends to be happy.

Each of their skills had improved. Every morning the team would train, warm up. Then when their bodies were loosened up (or worn out in the case of the boys who had much less stamina than their female counterpart) they would take a D-rank mission. Following that, they would work on chakra control or learning techniques. The boys each received training from their families—Kaiyou's dad was too busy to train her on a regular basis, but did spend a few hours with her on weekends, so instead she received help from Kakashi.

Shino could now boast of being able to use his Kikai bugs more efficiently, and was steadily improving in his taijutsu. Many of the jutsus that would have been taught to another member of his team were not taught to him, other than to learn their weaknesses'. Until Shino developed a larger store of chakra within his body many techniques would be impossible to him, as his Kikai bugs consumed much of his chakra.

Kaiyou had finished with the scroll she was given for graduating. She had then devoured the kage bunshin, shadow clone, technique and was now able to make a large number of clones. Her taijutsu, which had always been on the better end compared to many of her classmates, had also improved. Kaiyou was currently working on coordinating the movements of her clones. Until her clones could work together smoothly the fighting would be more of a brawl than anything else. Only when her clones could work together smoothly would she be able to incorporate her small library of jutsus more effectively.

Sasuke had been training with his brother Itachi, who was currently an ANBU member, when he was not on duty. He was working on learning more fire element jutsus, and genjutsu. Despite Sasuke not having an interest in genjutsu it was something that the Sharingan eye would help him with, so it was best if he was prepared for when he activated it.

It was on days when Itachi was picking up Sasuke that the fights would suddenly stop. As soon as Itachi would appear Kaiyou would get strangely silent. Shino and Sasuke didn't quite understand why, but Sasuke was silently thankful for the relief. It wasn't actually any fun for him to argue with Kaiyou for hours on end. Kakashi just figured that the ANBU was one of the people who had caught her after she pulled a prank, and that she held it against him. Kaiyou meanwhile was trying to figure out what the guy was like, why he caught her attention.

The other times when fighting would be at a minimum was when they were training with Team 10. She would instead pester Shikamaru. The boys, and Ino, would groan at this. Ino had no idea why the blonde liked Shikamaru, and the boys all were just glad that they didn't have her undivided attention. It was always scary when she focused completely on a topic. Sasuke couldn't help but think that Shikamaru had the right of it, to be intimidated by women. After one such training session he lightly hit the other boys shoulder and muttered at him, "At least you don't have her everyday."

Exactly two months after the three genin had beat the bell test, without Kakashi even having had a chance to use his signature lines about testing taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu, the three were chasing a foul demon. Tora, Kakashi mused, might as well be possessed by the nibi, a cat-like two-tailed demon. Thankfully he was sitting on a fence letting his genin take care of the operation. He merely flipped open his book, making sure that Kaiyou wasn't in eyeshot, and half-heartedly listened to the communicator. Standing next to Kakashi was Itachi, who was visiting with his sempai, as Kakashi had formerly been in ANBU. In his mouth was a stick of strawberry Pocky.

Through the static on the walkie talkie he heard Kaiyou's voice.

"Ramen Queen in position. Over."

"Sunshine in position, over," Shino grumbled. He didn't quite understand how Kaiyou had come up with the code-name of sunshine for him. She'd said something about drawing the sun with sunglasses, but he didn't understand what that had to do with him. He didn't wear yellow or orange.

"…Uke in position, over," grumbled Sasuke. He could not believe he had to say that aloud, on a walkie talkie. He secretly dreaded finding out that another team had turned their communicators to the same frequency for a just a moment, trying to find a free one. He would never live it down, and his fangirls would probably faint with nosebleeds, imagining him being in a relationship. Taking control of the situation, before he had to listen to anymore of Kaiyou's laughter, that he had actually used the code-name she'd assigned. "Team move out."

Kakashi chuckled, and listened to the scratching and squealing. He was so glad that he did not have to help catch that cat. Suddenly he realized that he was the only one chuckling. He looked over at his companion to see Itachi with an expression on his face. The seventeen-year old ANBU member was staring, pocky almost dropping out of his mouth.

"You okay?"

Suddenly Itachi began laughing. He managed to choke out, "What did outoto do to deserve that code-name?"

Looking at the younger man Kakashi smirked. "I believe he managed to accidentally kiss emotou-chan. She tends to hold a grudge--but the thing is she doesn't actually hate him." Itachi raised his eyebrow. "No really. She used to, she really hates fangirls. Now they're friends, but the nickname remains. Even if he gets married I don't think it'll go away."

Itachi shuddered and decided in that moment to stay on the girls' good side. The cute little girl had a devilish side. A very unique young girl, indeed.

XxOOxX

"No, NO more D-rank missions! I want to do something heroic! Not chase cats or do gardening. We're good! Ask Nii-san! Geesh, even ask Itachi-san! We're good, we can do this!" Kaiyou was arguing, and losing against her father and Iruka-sensei, speaking up loudly for the first time in the presence of Itachi since the day they'd met.

Itachi watched with a small bit of interest in his eyes. Hokage-sama and his daughter were a lot alike. Both were stubborn. He was amused to note his little brother speaking up more, being more open around her. The elder Uchiha brother envied his brothers' ability to open up, even though he only managed it just a little bit.

"Dobe is correct. We have trained hard, and work as a team. We managed to get one-up on Kakashi, once. We can deal with a C-rank mission." Shino merely nodded and stood firmly behind the two shorter ringleaders.

Iruka sighed. "You're still just new genin! You can't expect to manage a C-rank mission so soon! You're too young," he began but was interrupted by the young ANBU member.

"I was younger Iruka-san. I think the three will do fine. Kakashi-sempai can keep them safe." Minato sighed, glancing between the five people standing before him. "Fine, I acknowledge your skill. However Kaiyou is not to go."

Protests arose all around. How could a team member not go on a mission. Minato held up his hand, silencing the three. "She is too well-known. You are to disguise yourself so that your identity will not be known. Come back tomorrow morning and I will assign you a C-rank mission. Do not come as yourself, daughter."

Shino and Sasuke assumed that Kaiyou was not to go as herself because she was the Yellow Flash's daughter, the child of a Hokage who had many enemies in foreign countries. That was true enough. What the others in the room also knew was that as a Jinchuuriki it was not safe for her beyond the boundaries of the village. A small disguise would serve her well, at least until she had learned some more offensive tactics and could keep herself safe from the average shinobi that she might encounter.

"Yatta! Neh, neh! Can we go now otou-san? I wanna tell Shika-kun, Hinata-chan and Kiba!" Not waiting for an answer she ran off, not realizing she just may have opened a can of worms. Her father hadn't known she was close to Shikamaru. Now he was left to wonder what the Nara boy had to do with his daughter…

Sasuke, not realizing that the Hokage was not aware of his daughters crush, muttered under his breath, towards his brother. "And she says she hates fangirls—sometimes she is one.." Minato heard.

A/N: This is not my favorite chapter, I'll confess. I wanted to put more of Itachi in, and some more humor, while continuing on with the storyline. The big mission outside of Konoha begins in the next chapter. It will be the Wave arc. There are a few things I'd love for my readers to vote on, if you don't mind too much. Also sorry I am not a great action-scene writer. I will try to put more details in on further battle scenes!

1: Should Hinata be paired with Shino or Kiba?

2: Should Haku be a male or a female?


	5. Lying

A/N: Welcome to a new chapter of my wonderful story

A/N: Welcome to a new chapter of my wonderful story! Alas it not as wonderful as the wonderful Masashi Kishimoto-sensei. Ah well. This first part goes out all the Shika-lovers out there. I'd already planned this, but then I actually got a request for more Shikamaru stalking! Thank you for your reviews everyone! On another note I am closing the poll about Haku's gender. Read and you'll find out which way about 70 of my reviewers voted.

XxOOxX

Kami-- divine being, spirit, god

Shogi—a tactical game, a lot like chess I've heard (I can't remember what the pieces do in chess, so…)

Chibi-- shorty, a child-like miniature figure

XxOOxX

A fair-haired blur, in navy and orange, ran towards one of the training areas assigned to genin teams. She bounced over rooftops, and vaulted over the rare chimney that was present in the Fire Country. As soon as she was within sight of the training area, and could see her beloved Shikamaru, she started calling out to him, "Neh! Shika-kun! Shika-kun," she called out to get his attention.

Said boy, as soon as he heard the loud voice cringed and moaned, "Troublesome woman. Why me? Kami I pity Sasuke," he muttered towards Chouji. Slowly turning he acknowledged the girl. It was always a bad move to ignore her-- her voice got louder and she got more obnoxious.

"Guess what Shika-kun! Guess!" He didn't even bother guessing as she landed on the ground in front of him. "My team gets a C-rank mission! Nii-san says we're good enough and got Daddy to agree. Well mostly, I can't go, not as myself! I'm trying to come up with the perfect disguise. Help me, please, Shika-kun..."

If Kaiyou had developed some sort of jutsu making her eyes all watery and begging, like a cute little puppy, she would have used it. However she hadn't developed that, instead she just tilted her head with a smile playing on her face. Many people responded to it even without exerting chakra.

Truthfully Kaiyou had a couple disguises up her sleeve, she could change genders for the assignment or she could dye her hair a paler blonde and put her hair in a ponytail, trying to pass off as a Yamanaka. Ino could help with that one maybe. Then again the disguise wouldn't hold up in a battle—she couldn't use any of the Yamanaka mind jutsus.

It was at this point in time that Asuma came up to the girl. "Kaiyou you're interrupting our training. Unless you want to play a game of shogi with Shikamaru while you talk about this, I need to keep him training." Asuma knew full-well of the girls' crush. He also knew how scary a girl with a crush was to a Nara. And Kaiyou was definitely not the sort of girl any Nara would, in the history of the world, want; unless they were mentally unstable and had a split personality. Even Shikamaru, who certainly was the same lazy-genius through and through, would put up with Kaiyou if a game of shogi were involved.

Kaiyou's face twitched, and Ino begged her to leave, mentally. Chouij just kept munching chips. Shikamaru wasn't quite sure what to do. Kaiyou wasn't a great player, but she always managed to come up with interesting moves. Too bad most of them were easy to counter. "Hmm okay! And we can talk about my disguise."

Throughout the course of the game, which only lasted about twenty moves--Kaiyou wasn't focusing enough to come up with any creative moves, which only served to irk Shikamaru-- she chatted away about her disguise. Shikamaru figured out easily what the disguise would be. He was actually amused by it, and wondered if he should watch her unveil it.

_Nah…too much work. Besides she might get the wrong idea…she might think I like her…_ A physical shudder wracked his frame. He was far from insane—with Kakashi for an elder brother, a known pervert, another known extraordinarily powerful pervert for a grandfather, an a Hokage for a father….it would take a very brave man to want anything to do with the girl; a brave man, and one who could put up with annoying girls better than he. Shikamaru barely had the courage to be friendly with the girl.

XxOOxX

"KAI-YOU," a deep voice growled as soon as she entered her home. "What have I told you about boys?" Her father was glaring at her an grumpy. Kaiyou nervously rubbed the back of her head.

"Uhm, they're different from girls so don't undress in front of them?" Seeing the look on her father's face she hurried to supply another answer. "That and uh…hit them hard?" Her father was about to break out crying. Didn't his little girl pay attention to him?

"Kaiyou…are you sure you aren't hanging out with boys…that you don't like them," he whispered, upset, to his little girl. Her face froze. That only served as proof to her father, who collapsed to the floor. Minato was a doting father to the highest degree.

"Kaiyou-chan. But, but what does that _boy_ have that I don't? Don't you love your daddy anymore," he whimpered.

Sighing the twelve-year-old walked up and hugged her dad. "Of course I love you, and I always will. Shikamaru is just really smart, but he never pays much attention to me. Sometimes I think he's almost as bad as Sasuke-hentai." Her words were chosen to reassure her father, but were also the truth.

They did reassure her father. Shikamaru didn't like her! His world was saved! But his poor daughter wasn't loved…he frowned. Shouldn't he be unhappy about that? All this incident had proved to him was that his little girl would always be his.

"Now that's over with Daddy. Can we go get some ramen," she whined. He jumped up forgetting about the whole crush issue.

XxOOxX

Team 7 was meeting on the bridge. Kakashi had already arrived, the standard hour and a half late. That was all normal enough. They were meeting in order to report in to the Hokage's Tower to receive their very first C-rank mission, which was exciting. That fact made it even more unusual that Kaiyou was late.

Kakashi leaned against the rails on the bridge reading his book. Kaiyou wasn't there and Minato hadn't passed any laws stopping him from reading the smut in front of other minors, the ban only protected Kaiyou. Besides, the other two were boys—they'd be reading the book in a matter of years anyways. Sasuke and Shino leaned against the fence, as far away from Kakashi's giggling as possible looking for a blonde.

Blonde's weren't common in Konoha, but they weren't rare either. Most people who walked across, or past, the little bridge had brunette hair. Kaiyou with her blonde should stand out easily. They hadn't seen a single blonde female all morning. A few blonde heads, sure, but no blonde female. Right now a blonde was heading towards the bridge, a skip in his step. The two boys ignored the blonde until he came right up to them.

"Well uke, sunshine, how do I look," Shino slowly turned his head back to the blonde and looked him over. Sasuke wasn't so delicate and immediately went to yell at the impudent fool who dared call him, an Uchiha, submissive, and worse gay. Then he stared.

Up closer they could clearly tell that the blonde in front of them was Kaiyou. The eyes were the same color, the same size. The blonde hair was the same color, but it was in a short ponytail much like Itachi's. The clothes were completely masculine, and worse bright orange. The whisker marks were gone.

Kakashi flipped his book into his kunai pouch, with a chuckle. "Great disguise. I think the boys are still staring. So what do we call you otouto?"

Kaiyou grinned. "Ore no numaeh wa Uzumaki Naruto desu. (My name is Naruto Uzumaki.) And don't forget that! I'm a guy, so treat me like one!"

Shino stared at the girl. His bugs had informed him that there were flaws in her disguise, though he hadn't immediately noticed. Sasuke stared, then turned his head away. _Why act like a guy? A disguise sure, but a guy? Maybe she's gay—that would explain why she and Hinata don't fall over themselves at my feet? …then what of Shikamaru? _Sasuke shook the thought off—the girl hated perverts too much to be a lesbian, at least he thought so.

Soon the three were making their way towards the Tower. The real boys in the group soon realized that "Naruto" was just a more masculine version of Kaiyou. The only henge she had done to disguise her identity was to hide the whisker marks that usually added an exotic look to her face.

Arriving at the Tower, and welcomed into the office, Minato glanced at his daughter before returning to the charade of her being just another male genin. "Team 7 are you ready to accept a C-rank mission?" Receiving an affirmative from all four present in the room he continued. "We have a request for an escort mission to Wave Country. You have a one-month allowance of time for completing this mission." With a call he brought Tazuna into the room.

The drunk looked the three genin over. "These are the mighty ninja's the super me hired to protect myself? That shrimp doesn't look like he could fend off a cat let alone protect me!"

'Naruto' glanced around and noticed that he was the short one. Hmph, he wouldn't get angry, not this time. Tazuna was in for it later though…one last prank…replacing all of the booze this guy smelled of, and seemed to carry with him, with hmm.. seltzer water and food coloring. Yeah, that would be a good plan!

Kakashi noticed "Naruto's" scheming look on his face, and knew that he was barely holding 'his' temper in check. He almost pitied the man. He remembered with horror some of the pranks an angry Kaiyou had played on him before. Calling Kaiyou a shrimp, a chibi, or anything else along those lines was definitely a stupid thing to do. Tazuna had called her short within two minutes of meeting her.

Kakashi placed a hand on the blonde's head. "Alright Team 7 we'll meet at the gates in an hour. Pack for a long mission, but nothing you can't carry and move well with. We'll camp along the way. Move out!"

XxOOxX

They were only three hours away from Konoha. The weather was great, the sun buring brightly high in the sky. Kakashi was trailing behind his genin. Kaiyou, disguised as Naruto, was in the lead, with the two real boys flanking Tazuna. Tazuna was still spluttering indignantly at the lack of his alcohol and the flavor of the seltzer water that he had taken a large swig of as soon as he had left the village.

The weather was great, but ahead of them were two puddles. Kakashi immediately took notice, and knew the puddles to be a pathetic excuse for genjutsu. Shino's bugs easily told him of the presence of chakra, and Sasuke was trained by his older brother in genjutsus. Kaiyou was too busy gloating over her 'win' on Tazuna to notice, but Shino sent a Kikai bug forward and had it land on her wrist, a silent signal that the team had worked out.

Danger.

As they walked past the puddles they dissolved and became two men, with gauntlets on their hands, and a chain stretched between them. Immediately they managed to wrap the chain around Kakashi and called out that they had defeated one enemy. Kakashi had been ripped to pieces. Shino and Sasuke immediately moved into a flurry of action. Shino's bugs were already upon both men, draining them of their chakra, weakening them. Sasuke moved into a flurry of taijutsu, before Shino's bugs fled from Sasuke's opponent, enabling Sasuke to use offensive jutsu against the Demon Brother, without injuring Shino's allies.

Shino himself was draining his opponent of chakra, using his bugs. His battle was easy—there was nothing that the man could do to evade the bugs, he'd had no idea what the boy was capable of. Attacking an Aburame was not a wise course of action, unprepared.

Kaiyou stood frozen. Her brother had been ripped to shreds. She'd never been attacked with the intent to kill without a guardian to take care of her before. This was all so new, and it had killed her brother. It was only when one of the brothers, who'd been fighting Sasuke flew at her, as she stood between him and Tazuna, that her mind turned its power switch back to the 'On' position.

A kunai came to her hand and she slashed at the weapon gauntlet the man still bore, even after having been forced to abandon the chain. Pushing him away, but far from physically strong enough to do so, she stumbled once and kicked out, shoving him away. Her kunai, still slammed into his gauntlet, twisted its angle and his gauntlet came down and slashed across her hand.

Sasuke, seeing the moment available, the man far enough away from his teammate for a brief moment, launched the katon jutsu that he'd prepared. The preparation time, even that short moment, had been enough for him to allow the man to escape and wound his teammate and friend. Before the jutsu fried the man, which would have been an instant kill, he was yanked away and knocked out.

Kakashi stood over the newly unconscious Demon Brother, appraising the situation, before grabbing the other brother, unconscious thanks to Shino, and tied them to a tree. "But, but Nii-san, you were dead! I saw them rip you up," her voice was soft, and had a whimper to it, almost a hysterical note.

Sasuke, trying to regain his pride after having allowed Kaiyou to be hurt, pointed towards the log that had been split into pieces on their path. "Naruto's" face went a little read, and he let out a deep sigh. Then he walked forward and punched his brother. "Don't do that you pervert!"

She walked off in a huff and sat down, calming herself. Kakashi followed her and leaned against a tree innocently. "Well, time to go back. Mission aborted. This is not a C-rank mission," he said with a dirty look tossed towards Tazuna. "And you need medical attention. Poisoned," he nodded towards the wound on Kaiyou's hand.

"What?!" Naruto screeched. "We are not going back! We finally got a good mission! We can handle it! The boys took down those two, and they're clearly not genin! You are one of the village's best, though perverted, jounins! We can handle it! We are not going back!"

"Sure, we could handle it. That won't change the facts. You need medical attention, and if you die your dad will turn be over to Ibiki."

A determined look came across the boyish face. "We're not going back!" And she stabbed a kunai into her hand, and let it bleed.

"Well sure, that'll deal with the poison, but not Ibiki, and it doesn't mean we'll continue with the mission. Bandage that up," he said tossing a roll of gauze towards the girl.

Sasuke and Shino shared a look. A stab wound should generate more concern than a roll of gauze. And just who was Ibiki? Neither of them knew.

XxOOxX

Shortly later the group of five 'males' were sitting down, enjoying their lunch, and giving Tazuna a break. The man was a civilian, and they couldn't push him even to genin standards of endurance. Sitting around their lunch they were discussing what to do. Tazuna had pulled the whole 'if you don't help me I'll get killed and you'll ruin my grandsons life' card. Not even Kaiyou, the female of the group, had fallen for it. Actually Sasuke, who had had much of his family killed, had more empathy for the kid. His pride would never let him acknowledge that.

"I'm not turning around! I already said that! I stabbed my HAND! We're helping this guy, we're protecting his family! This Gatou guy is just a rich idiot—he doesn't understand shinobi! We don't turn back on our missions or our friends!" Kaiyou was adamant that they don't leave a man behind. She'd grown up hearing from Kakashi that those who leave a comrade behind are worse than scum. Her father fully agreed with Kakashi.

Shino nodded. "I believe we are capable of handling this mission. Together we can handle chuunin, and you are with us sensei." His words were short and to the point.

"Hnn. I also agree. An Uchiha doesn't back down. I say we can do this." All three genin were in agreement.

"You are all aware this is now at least a B-rank mission. The next opponents Gatou hires to eliminate Tazuna will be jounin."

None of the resolves of the genin were shaken. Kaiyou wanted to prove herself, she wanted to protect everybody, she did not want to abandon the mission. Sasuke felt the need to prove himself, to be as good as his older brother. Shino analyzed the situation and felt that Kakashi could take on any jounin and the three of them would protect the client. It would look impressive on their records, and it would enable them to avoid that wretched cat longer, if they had proven themselves to be capable of more advanced missions.

After lunch they would continue along towards the Wave Country. There they would help Tazuna build a bridge, try to save his life, and coincidentally help get a country back on its feet. Kaiyou hadn't expected a mission with princes or princesses, or amazing people in life-threatening situations. Somehow she got a mission that was close to it: protecting a drunken hero.

A/N:

The poll for Hinata's affections is still open! Currently the boys are TIED. I had meant to introduce Haku and Zabuza in this chapter--but it's already at the length I want. That will hopefully mean an earlier update, and a well-thought out chapter! Please review and let me know what you think!


	6. Waves of Growth

A/N: Remember back to that first chapter where I said you couldn't complain unless I change facts around in the story

A/N: Remember back to that first chapter where I said you couldn't complain unless I change facts around in the story? (Well you CAN complain, but I'd rather not read complaints)…. At that point in time I was thinking I'd already be introducing the chuunin exams by chapter 5! So much for that! I don't own Naruto, but I must admit that I 'own' how long it's taking me to get to the chuunin exams and shippuden arcs!

Thank you for spending the time to read my story!

XxOOxX

Mizu—water

Bunshin—used to mean clone or replication

Nindo—ninja way. Creed.

Ja—short for "Ja ne" meaning something akin to "see you later"

Chichi—informal for the speaker's father

Nee-chan-- a way of referring to an older female, normally one you know well.

Aniki-- the speaker's older brother

XxOOxX

It was foggy, and still early in the morning, the sun not yet raised. "Naruto" and "his" team along with the client Tazuna were currently aboard a small boat. A huge bridge spanned the water although it did not yet reach the shore of the landmass that Konoha was a part of. Being the only one who was normally expressive "Naruto" had bug-eyes staring at it. "Wow, it's so huge! The old drunk really knows how to build a bridge!"

The 'old drunk' in question just nodded, before realizing that Naruto was loud, and should be quieter. Gatou's men patrolled the area, trying to keep everyone out. He knew ninja's had been brought in from Konoha; his men would be on the alert.

Nevertheless they made it into Wave without further mishaps. They weren't very far at all from Tazuna's village when bad luck struck. It started with a rabbit and a kawarimi. Sasuke hadn't noticed, nor had Kakashi. Kaiyou was nervous and on edge, but she couldn't discern why, until she noticed a tiny rustling in the bushes to the right of the path. Instantly her hand crept down for a kunai.

Shino, who had been near her, put a hand on hers gently as a sign for her to stop her action. A more discreet method would be advisable. Kikai bugs which had been scouting the area for Shino circled behind the feminine figure hiding in the bushes, and a few discreetly began to suck his chakra. Such minute amounts were being sucked that the victim didn't even notice. Without warning the stalker they'd begun their surveillance, and enacted preventative measures.

At some point Kakashi had realized what his genin were up to, how Kaiyou wasn't quite positive, and had alerted Sasuke. The process had only taken a few steps but all of their team was ready for a battle. Now Naruto threw the kunai, aimed for the ninja. But poof, the ninja was gone, and the kunai quivered over a terrified white rabbit. Magician's trick anyone?

They continued on, Shino silently tracking the other ninja. Soon enough, when they were near a lake, Kakashi yelled for the genins to duck down. A huge zanbatou was flung into a tree behind them, and an odd-looking bare-chested ninja landed on the hilt of the blade.

Introductions ensued. Copy nin Hatake Kakashi meet Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Bloody Mist. Genin meet a creepy guy, who can kill you in a flash. Guard Tazuna, the target of the silent killer. Instructions over with, a thick mist, thicker than had previously been present, spread quickly around the lake, courtesy of Zabuza's Ninpo: Kirigakure no jutsu.

Kaiyou, Shino and Sasuke stood in a triangle formation, flanking Tazuna. Kakashi would take care of the missing-nin. They would guard the client. They knew this. But they were scared.

This man whispered into the mist about how many ways there were to kill a person, of the kidneys and lungs and heart, and how a blow to them could be fatal. The killing intent was incredible. For a moment the three genin froze, then Sasuke regained movement. A kunai in hand he was slowly raising his hand to slit his own throat.

A word from Kakashi dispelled the fear. "It's my job to protect you. Don't go making my job harder, Sasuke. I wont let you die!"

"Big words. Protecting a bunch of kids and an old man. Those brats should be at home; until they're in my BINGO book they aren't shinobi. Maybe I should just kill them now to get it over with," Zabuza mused, hidden within the mist.

With that, Zabuza swung into action, too swift for any of the genin to follow, and swung his zanbatou, the very one he'd stood on the hilt of earlier, down on the genins head. Kakashi was already there, blocking the blow. Sasuke, shedding his terror, moved to assist his sensei.

"Stand back! Guard Tazuna! You can't help here," barked Kakashi at the boy. He stabbed Zabuza, only to discover that he had been a mizu clone all along, which splashed to the ground, now only a puddle of water.

Kakashi unveiled his Sharingan. The two men, both very strong jounins, battled it out. Kakashi copied everything the man threw at him, almost reading his mind. Kunai flashed, and zanbatou pushed down on it. Kakashi copied everything the man threw at him, lone Sharingan eye spinning madly. At some point the battle had moved onto the lake.

"Water Prison no Jutsu!" The water became heavy, stranding Kakashi in a globe of water, held together by a constant flow of chakra from Zabuza's hand. He created mizu bunshin to destroy the genin and the old man.

"Run! Take Tazuna and run! The clones can't go far away from him," Kakashi's words were not obeyed, instead he just yelled, consuming some of the precious oxygen that was contained within the sphere of water needlessly.

Kaiyou didn't even bother looking at her teammates. Sasuke would never run, and Shino probably had it all figured out. Zabuza would just kill Kakashi and come after them later himself. Without Kakashi they were doomed. Kaiyou didn't think that far, she just needed one fact to decide her course of action.

"I am not scum Nii-san!" Her voice, loud and clear rang out across the clearing, echoing off of the water. It was a declaration, her nindo.

The three genin stood around Tazuna and planned. There were certain things that they knew. The stalker from earlier was hidden within the trees, observing. Going onto the water would be a dangerous venture; look where it had gotten sensei. Guarding Tazuna was very important—someone would have to do that, and someone would have to rescue Kakashi by making Momochi release his hold on the water prison. And they had to keep themselves alive, by avoiding the Zabuza clones that were two seconds away from attacking.

With a yell Kaiyou ducked and rammed an elbow into the clones stomach, and managed to not stumble as the resistance failed, and turned into a puddle of water. Sasuke had also stabbed the clone with a kunai in the arm at the same time.

Shino was the one who came up with the perfect plan. A movement of his fingers alerted his team that his Kikai were draining Zabuza of his chakra, at a much swifter pace than was discrete. He was hindering the man, as well as marking him so that he could be seen through the mist. Fortunately though, that would only become an issue if he managed to re-summon the mist, as it had dissipated during the battle.

Unless Shino were to summon a whole horde of Kikai bugs, which would be terribly obvious and reveal his skills to the watcher, the drainage would not force the man to release the jutsu in time to save Kakashi. Kakashi wasn't sure whether to be pleased or angry at his genin, as he waited to be rescued.

From his back Sasuke pulled fuuma shuriken, a much better weapon for throwing than a kunai ever could be, from his back. Hurling two of them towards the missing-nin he smirked. Without releasing his hold Zabuza ducked the fuuma shuriken easily. Above his head, and behind him, a shadow separated from one of the shuriken, became an orange blur, and kicked the man in the back of the knees.

Naruto sunk into the water, and Zabuza fell forward having not expected the attack and loosened his hold on the water prison. Kakashi was free. And there were two blonde brats. One brat was in the water and one on the shore with a huge grin on his face, giving the other two boys a high-five, still guarding Tazuna.

Zabuza had lost. His fight with Kakashi had resumed, but his chakra reserves were low, and Kakashi had gotten the upper hand. Kakashi was about to go in for the kill, Zabuza pinned against a tree when needles gracefully flew through the air, and struck Zabuza, delving into his neck. The missing-nin keeled over.

From the trees a figure emerged. Long black hair, white mask, and ninja clothing. A hunter-nin, and a magician in disguise. Hidden away on the body of the hunter-nin were small Kikai bugs, planted earlier due to clumsy spying.

"Thank you. I have been searching for him for some time." Politely, and quickly the hunter-nin and Kakashi checked for vitals. There were none, and the nin took off with his prize.

Shortly later, walking back towards his emotou-chan to ruffle her hair, Kakashi collapsed. Kaiyou had no idea what was going on. He had won the battle, why was he collapsing? Shino and Sasuke, both having experienced the situation themselves and known others who had done so as well shook their heads. "Chakra exhaustion, dobe," muttered Sasuke. "Make some clones to carry him."

Tazuna, nearly forgotten in the last few minutes, told them that they were not far from his house. They should press on and let Kakashi rest in a bed.

XxOOxX

Kakashi felt that something was odd when he woke up. He blinked his good eye, trying to get rid of his blurred vision. A face was grinning down at him, and it took him a moment to realize that it was Kaiyou. She was still masquerading as Naruto, with her whisker marks covered up by a mild henge. Two other faces were visible to her left and her right, the dark-haired, dark-eyed Uchiha and the brunette, bespectacled Aburame.

"Ne, Nii-san, you even wear that mask to bed? Why?"

Blearily he reached a hand up and rubbed his head. "The ladies love a mysterious man," he said with a perverted grin. The little girl shook her head, "Daddy said that it's because you're vain; that you want to hide your scars. Personally I do not see what is wrong with your face. Just that teensy scar descending from your sad eye."

Only then did Kakashi realize that his mask had been removed by the curious genin. Sasuke smirked, fighting back a full-blown grin, and behind his shades Shino's eyes sparkled with mirth. Kakashi hadn't seen it coming, and was unable to stop them from looking at his face.

Putting the matter aside for the moment (he'd get his revenge later) Kakashi broke the news to his genin that Zabuza was still alive. Shino was not surprised, Sasuke not very surprised, but Kaiyou was quite surprised. "But I though…"

"Senbon are not always fatal dobe." Shino added a comment on to Sasuke's scathing remark. "Consider it similar to what the Hyuuga clan does with their Jyuuken. Pressure points to feign death."

"Ohh…." Kaiyou learned something new everyday- at least when books weren't involved. The group of four then discussed the battle and what they would need to do to accomplish the mission.

XxOOxX

The next day, as training began, they reflected that perhaps it would have been better not to listen to Kaiyou and prank (finally) her nii-san. He was training them in a particularly sadistic manner, even from where he stood in the clearing in the small forest leaning on crutches.

"Naruto make twenty clones." Kaiyou had obliged her older brother without questioning why. After said clones were complete and milling about Kakashi pulled a scroll out of his pocket. Tracing a slim line of blood across it, the scroll opened and out of rained more kunai and shuriken than Kaiyou could believe had come from one place.

"Naruto, your clones are to use all three of you as target practice. Team 7 avoid the weapons. Don't come home hurt. You've already got some chakra control. Now commence your speed and evasion training. See you at dinner. Ja!" Kakashi left, hobbling away on his crutches.

Shino looked at the twenty clones, then at the three of them, then at the large pile of weapons. Today was going to be hell. "Shouldn't have looked under the mask," Shino murmured to himself. He knew that people liked to keep things hidden sometimes--why else did he wear sunglasses all of the time? If somebody messed with his shades he'd be angry. Apparently Kakashi was irritated enough to encourage clones to torture them.

He'd hadn't left behind any scrolls on medical ninjutsu. Nor did any of the team know any. The boys didn't think they had enough stamina or blood for this. Maybe a couple of clones they could deal with, but avoiding the projectile weapons of twenty Naruto/Kaiyou clones? …Let the fun begin.

XxOOxX

The genin came to dinner that night, tired and bruised, with small slices littering each of their bodies. Shino and Sasuke hadn't realized how well Kaiyou had learned to coordinate her clones' efforts. The kunai and shuriken had been thrown with decent accuracy, in deadly volleys coming from two directions at once. They'd held back; it would have been a merciless massacre had the genin been forced to avoid projectiles from all 360 degrees.

It would have been a massacre anyways, if the weapons hadn't been dulled. They weren't sharp enough to do too much damage, thankfully. However they could bruise, leave shallow cuts and generally hurt. They'd even managed to knock the genin out on a few occasions, when they hadn't managed to avoid a kunai thrown at a temple.

Shino had been knocked out five times, Sasuke four. Kaiyou had been knocked out no less than eight times. Kaiyou had improved her taijutsu a lot, and was good for a genin. She hadn't, however learned to deal with projectiles very well unless it was her throwing them. Worse her clones knew her mind better than the boys'--they had inside information as to how she'd react and planned for it.

She cursed the day she'd trained with them enough for them to became that well coordinated with her. Sasuke found it quite amusing and rubbed it in, despite his very low energy levels. "Can't even avoid yourself?" he'd mocked after the third time she'd been knocked out. The boys had yet to be knocked out, at that time.

Her answer had been to scowl and push more energy into avoiding the clones. After a while she'd managed to improve, however her start had still left her with a worse record than the boys.

Shino, having the lowest energy levels of the three, despite being a formidable opponent (though he normally played back-up) barely limped back to Tazuna's house. All but one of his knockouts had been towards the end of the practice. Sasuke faired better--He got knocked out once around the time that Naruto was knocked out a fourth time, once again a while later, then twice more within the last portion of the game. He was eager for sleep and food. He scowled at Naruto.

Naruto had proven the best at the activity towards the end. Though the fact that he had much more energy left could have had something to do with it. The 'boy' didn't walk around with a limp, and seemed perfectly fine. A few faint bruises decorated his body but nothing compared to what either Shino or Sasuke sported. Sasuke determined that tomorrow he'd be better than the dobe, and be the first to reach Itachi's level of skill.

Dinner was a loud affair. Kaiyou, short on manners to begin with when it came to food (Very little female influence. Manners weren't on the top of Minato's list of things to instill within his girl.) gobbled her dinner up hungrily, eating as fast as possible. Sasuke followed her lead, though with somewhat more manners. He was hungry, and he wasn't going to let any dobe beat him! Apparently not even when it came to how much food could be eaten within one minute.

Kakashi shook his head to see the two genin competing, even over food. He glanced over at Shino who sat next to an empty chair. Shino too was eating a fair quantity of food, though he was more meticulous with his manners. As the most logical, and least openly emotional on the team, he had probably deemed it a waste of energy to eat so quickly, and that he would be better served to eat slower.

A noise drew everyone's attention to the small boy that had just entered the kitchen with his own emptied plate, and stared scornfully at the boys eating food as fast as humanly possible. Tears welled up in the boy's eyes, angry hurt tears. Kakashi winced knowing what was to come, to an extent.

"Why are you even here?! Go home, stop pretending to care! You'll just get yourself killed! Just go home! You don't care! Everything is so horrible here but you don't care! Go away!" The boy was yelling, using anger to push away the tears in his eyes.

The three genin froze, and then Shino slowly resumed his eating. He did not know how to deal with the boy, and so he wouldn't. Let his mother work on the boy.

Sasuke swallowed the food in his mouth with a mildly uncomfortable look flitting through his eyes. The words echoed through his mind and struck a chord. Why did anybody have to face disaster so young? Things like this, like kidnapping and like massacres shouldn't happen…

Kaiyou slammed her hands down and stood. "Quit whining! We're awesome ninja! We won't get killed. I'm here to protect everybody! So get your guts up and deserve to be protected, do something! Sitting there and crying, complaining about death does nothing! Every time my dad sends a ninja out, and he gets killed it's awful! I watch him stare into his food as if his life has just ended. But you know what? He gets his guts up and he continues on. Because a ninja doesn't quit! We'll save your family, and then you'd better come to me and apologize. Because I am not dying!"

She sat back down and ate a few more bites, cleaning off her plate, before leaving. Everybody in the room was slightly stunned. "Naruto" was known for having a big mouth, but who knew that he was also so practical. No matter what had happened, you couldn't just sit down and cry. Bravery was in continuing to fight, to do something, even though you were scared.

Kaiyou didn't know the story of Inari. But Inari didn't know hers either, that she'd never known a mother, that some of the villagers hated her. Once again Shino and Sasuke caught each other's eyes. They'd both determined that there was something unusual about Kaiyou, and her little speech had hinted at something, but they weren't sure what. Kakashi would know, but they doubted that their sensei would tell them. He'd probably just pull his orange book out and start giggling.

Tazuna's daughter spoke to them for a minute, about the man Inari saw as father and hero dying defending the village. She then got up and followed her son. Kakashi decided to let Kaiyou cool off on her own. She'd be back later. It was rare that she got irritated like that. It was clearly a testament to her energy levels that she was grumpy enough to yell like that.

XxOOxX

Kaiyou had all the weapons' on her person that she needed. Without even pausing she went back out to train. Clones fired round upon round of the kunai at her, a couple more clones dispatched to retrieve the kunai so that there was never a shortage of projectiles to fling at her. The moon was high in the sky when she finally took a kunai to her temple and she fell unconscious. Her clones dispersed themselves.

A stranger's hand awoke her the next morning. Opening her eyes she met the dark eyes of a young girl. "Neh, nee-chan?" Kaiyou muttered up at the stranger.

"Eh, I'm sorry. I thought it best to wake you. Did you sleep out here all night?" The figure's voice was low for a girl, but Kaiyou, still waking up didn't notice that.

She grinned mischievously, her whisker-less cheeks crinkling up with a dimple. "Yeah! I was training!"

The figure nodded, and pushed her weight back on her heels. "You're a ninja?" Kaiyou nodded excitedly and began talking about how great she and her team was, in the process introducing herself. Her introduction was only a tiny bit hesitant, introducing herself as "Naruto". As she spoke she noticed that the other girl was picking herbs out of a patch under a tree.

"Whatcha doin nee-chan?"

"I'm collecting medicinal herbs." She paused for a moment. Naruto moved over and helped her pluck a few for a while, in silence. Before Kaiyou put an herb in the basket her new friend had brought she checked to make sure it was the correct one.

Haku smiled and stood up, feminine kimono straightening. "Do you have any precious people Naruto-kun?"

Kaiyou nodded her head eagerly. "Of course! My dad, my nii-san, and my friends! Though I can't really protect nii-san or chichi yet. They're both WAY stronger than I am still. But one day!"

"Protect those that are precious to you Naruto-kun. That's where strength comes from. I need to go now, but I think your friends are here looking for you." Haku pointed over to where Sasuke and Shino stood on the edge of the clearing, within hearing.

Haku turned and walked away. "Bye nee-chan," yelled out Naruto. Haku turned around and smiled with humor.

"By the way, I'm a boy."

Naruto's jaw dropped, and Sasuke and Shino chuckled quietly to themselves. Only the wind heard it was so faint, on Shino's part. Kaiyou and the boys picked up the weapons she'd used the night before, putting them into a pile to begin again. As they finished Kaiyou finally spoke.

"That guy is prettier than I am…maybe there's something wrong with me…" Sasuke backed away. He, having been surrounded by enough fan girls to know never to insinuate that there was something wrong with the way a female appeared, wisely kept his mouth shut. Shino, on the other hand, hadn't had any female friends before and the women in his family were too logical to be swayed by appearances (in public at least).

"You do lack a certain femininity. Perhaps it is in the way you dress. Manners couldn't hurt either…" Shino should have kept his mouth shut. Not talking had served him well in the past.

Later that day, as they were taking a break each of the genin had very different thoughts. Kaiyou was pondering why she wasn't very feminine. _Maybe I should ask Hinata for help? Maybe that's why Shika-kun doesn't like me? Ooh Daddy would be so angry… _Shino was wondering why Kaiyou's clones were targeting him more than Sasuke. _Did I say something?_ Sasuke was mulling over the thoughts that the girl—boy had left with him. _Did aniki get so strong by protecting others? Is that what I need to be strong? _


	7. Heartbroken

Heartbroken

Heartbroken

A/N: I'm really trying to improve my battle scenes—my goal is for them to contain action and introspection, giving a decent visual without getting too much into fighting details. Unlike the REAL author, I'm just a girl whose mum has decided that I am too …pathetic physically to let me push the lawn mower.

Just a note for you guys now, before I forget. I've made my decision regarding Hinata and thank you for your input. And…I am going to try to put up another chapter by Sunday, but if I have not it will be another week. I'm going on vacation for a week, to a place where I barely have a cell phone signal, electricity only by generator, and no city for almost half an hour's drive. On the plus side there is a lake, sun, water sports and its HOME.

Enough about me, when you only care about Kaiyou and the gang!

XxOOxX

Kekkai genkai—blood line limit. Ex. Sharingan, Byakugan

Emotou-chan-- little sister

XxOOxX

Kaiyou had decided that she liked the training Kakashi had assigned them. Much to his dismay; Kaiyou preferred to train all night as well as all day, as a real test to her stamina, her growing speed and her unpredictability (the only way to beat the clones whose mind was modeled after hers). The exercise was also a great challenge for her clones' newfound teamwork. It annoyed Kakashi precisely because she snuck out to continue her exercising. After years of pranking Kaiyou had developed quite the stealth skills.

It was a week after the battle with Momochi that Kakashi went to lock Kaiyou into the house so that she couldn't sneak out again that he finally noticed. The girl was completely worn out, and snoring loudly in her curtained-off area of the room. He thought back to the day, and realized that Kaiyou had only come home in time for breakfast in the morning, then been back out training with the boys. Pulling the blanket back over his adoptive little sister Kakashi shook his head. The girl hadn't slept in more than twenty-four hours, easily. She'd been training that whole time, except for when she was shoveling food into her face.

He'd let the girl sleep in on the morrow. She'd need her sleep. It's not like Zabuza would be ready to have a second go yet, he should still be recovering from chakra exhaustion, and holes in his neck. Even if a skilled medic-nin had treated him he should only just be getting back on his feet.

Alas Kakashi, you're a ninja, you should know. Ninja's always push the limit. Kakashi himself had been on crutches within a day of almost total chakra exhaustion. He hadn't had injuries though.

XxOOxX

The snoring slowed, and then stopped. The blonde head emitting the snores tried to bury itself in a soft pillow, away from the world and the bright sun. Eventually the figure admitted failure and stretched her arms, right then left over her head, a loud yawn accompanying the movement, along with a _pop_ from her jaw. Opening and closing her mouth several times, before rubbing and then opening her eyes Kaiyou smiled to face a new day.

Rolling over the edge of her futon, and falling an inch onto the floor, she unraveled herself from her blankets and stood up. Another day, another tacky orange suit, dwelling as "Uzumaki Naruto" of no relation to the Hokage and NOT a jinchuuriki- such was the morning that greeted Kaiyou.

As she was changing another thing greeted her: The sounds of violence, something so familiar to her ears, after years of training as a kunoichi. She didn't bother with the henge but instead grabbed her weapon pouch and ran quietly outside. "Naruto" was now a mix of him and Kaiyou, a whiskered version, coming to the rescue.

Outside she saw Tazuna's daughter tied up and held at sword point by two low-life samurai, most likely moral-less rurouni. Inari was just rushing forward, courage finally mustered. If Kaiyou didn't intervene he would lose his life attempting, and failing to save his mother. He was still just a boy, he had no hope.

_Well, I'm a hero of Konoha aren't I? Let's kick butt!_ Two clones were swiftly made, and a substitution just as swiftly executed. "Trying to save me Inari, I'm touched."

The three were quite surprised. Where had the woman gone? With a grin Kaiyou, never one to go anywhere unarmed slit the ropes binding her. "Shall I be fair and play one-on-one?"

The two samurai grinned and charged the blonde ninja. "Nah." The clone knocked them out before they even got close to Kaiyou, who had jumped away after slitting her bindings.

"So they cheat too?" Turning around she glanced at the boy who had found his mother behind him. "Ninja's always use everything at their disposal." Naruto/Kaiyou cocked his/her head, "I've got honor though—treat scumbags low, but respect those who deserve it. Now be brave and take care of your mom! Your heroics aren't over yet; you've gotta look over her for YEARS!"

And she's off... Kaiyou took off for the bridge. If the attack had already started here, surely there was trouble at the bridge too. Besides, she'd already figured out that she'd been left behind. No way was Kakashi-nii getting away with that!"

XxOOxX

Kakashi and the two boys, along with Tazuna, arrived at the bridge. A mist lingered far on the other end. Between there and where the men stood were a few bodies-those who had arrived at the bridge first.

Zabuza was here. From the mist stepped two ninjas: the hunter-nin and the Demon of the Mist. "I didn't expect you so soon. My genin did a number on you," Kakashi mused with a straight face, and emotionless voice.

"Ahh but you seem to be short one. Perhaps he ran scared, like the pretty-boy is now. Shaking enough to wet yourself boy?"

Sasuke just smirked. "I'm shaking with excitement. You won't stop my dreams!" No Uchiha tolerated being called a pretty-boy or implications of being a coward. Kaiyou somehow managed to be exempt from the list of those to be punished for her insults.

Shortly later the fight had begun. Shino was relegated to guarding the client, which he was not thrilled with. At least Kaiyou had managed to ruin his stock of alcohol so he wasn't always drunk… What bothered Shino the most was that he was unable to fight. Getting involved with the battle between Zabuza and Kakashi was like asking for his precious Kikai to be massacred. And the younger boy had already figured out about the bugs.

That fact alone surprised Shino. Not many who did not know his clan name were able to deduce that he used bugs to drain his enemy's chakra. What further surprised Shino was that the boy had a defense, and a kekkai genkai. Ice. He'd frozen Shino's bugs, and trapped the Uchiha inside a dome of ice mirrors. The only thing Shino could do was throw shuriken and kunai at the boy.

He just leaned out of the ice and captured it, throwing it immediately back at Shino. His eyes narrowed. The boy did not throw shots designed to kill. Shino's attention from that strange abnormality—it was not a common trait for shinobi, was distracted with an orange and yellow blur landed on the bridge.

"Reporting for duty! Whose butt do I kick?" A whiskered Naruto didn't even bother waiting but immediately assessed the situation, and threw a kunai at the ice dome. While the hunter-nin went to catch it, Kaiyou jumped into the dome.

Shino shook his head. _Geesh, she may have some skills, but the girl is honestly an idiot sometimes. She jumped willingly into the trap…_

XxOOxX

Sasuke knew he was in trouble. Much as he had trained himself in speed this shinobi was faster, was all around, had a lot of sharp instruments to throw, and had more battle experience. He'd tried fire jutsus; the ice hadn't melted off even one drop.

Essentially all that he could do was go through the practice routine that Kakashi had set up. Watch the weapons, and avoid quickly. Lately it had been making his eyes itch though. It was hard to watch weapons when your eyes felt weird.

For once he wished his itchy eyes were causing him to see things that weren't really happening. **He did not just see his teammate jump into the death trap to help him.** But no, she was there, grinning as she avoided a fair amount of the needles with ease.

"Any plans 'Uke?" He didn't even spare the moment to glare. "Make clones and catch him!" Sasuke didn't say what the plan was after that—he doubted that the girl on the team would appreciate knowing that he intended to use a fire jutsu on a captured enemy. He could not risk the enemy breaking free.

Unfortunately things didn't work that well though. With more clones making the space tight and maneuvering space more limited, everybody was getting pelted with senbon. A clone that was unable to dodge away from a senbon, due to another's' presence, was hit. The puff of smoke as it was dispelled created confusion, and lack of visibility, and poof more were hit.

Sasuke and the real Kaiyou were among those being hit by senbon as well. Straining his eyes to see through the plumes of smoke Sasuke was finally able to make out some visuals. Movements felt intensified. He saw the last of the clones be dispelled, and a hail of senbon headed straight for vitals on his blonde teammate.

Movement: his body was in front of hers, taking the blows. His breath caught, and the Sharingan slipped out of his eyes, just as the smoke cleared. Kaiyou had felt him push her aside.

A feminine scream filled the air. "SASUKE! No…why…"

"Dunno why dobe. I want to be strong enough…" His voice trailed off and his body went limp. Kaiyou never even imagined that the hunter-nin had pulled the same trick a second time.

A soft voice spoke to Kaiyou as she mourned her friend, annoyance and honey to a fan girl as he might have been. "I didn't want to kill him. You forced my hand. This is the second kill I have made that has hurt my heart. My father and a young boy only doing his job. But I will harden my heart in order to protect my special person…"

Kaiyou looked up a look of cold rage on her face. "YOU! You're that boy…you say you want to protect! But whom are you protecting? LOOK AT WHO YOU"RE PROTECTING! He's willing to work for a man destroying a country for greed! And you kill a friend of mine, a special person to me, for that…"

Anger set into Kaiyou's heart. The orange jacket blew open in a wind that was created within the dome, out of nowhere. Haku didn't even have time to blink in surprise seeing the feminine build beneath the jacket, connecting that together with the feminine shriek of rage.

Her eyes turned red and she hunched over in pain. A red substance oozed out of her body's pores, circling around her, looking for all the world like a red tail before exploding into a face and settling down around her.

As she straightened back up Haku knew fear. Fear stronger than what he'd felt when he had faced the mob, led by his own father. Before him was no human. Slitted red eyes, a fanged overbite poking over her lower lip. A snarl filled the air, issuing from the dangerous mouth. Even the whiskers that he hadn't noticed that day in the woods were thicker, more animalistic.

Haku immediately went onto the defensive. He sank into his mirrors and began throwing as many senbon as possible. He did not want to be near the girl, Naruto, any longer. She didn't dodge, and Haku felt a moment of hope. They imbedded themselves into the blonde's skin, only to be jettisoned out. Kaiyou ran forward to the mirror Haku stood in forcing him to flee, throwing more senbon in his wake. A small hand caught his ankle as the tiny twelve-year-old grabbed hold of him. She swung him to the ground, slamming his chin against the blocks of cement, then threw him right through his mirrors, kunai following.

Kaiyou chased after, eyes flickering back to blue, then remained so. His body had bounced across the hard bridge. In her mind words kept repeating themselves, as the white mask fell off of Haku's delicate face.

"_Daughter, remember that no matter who tries to hurt you, or calls you names revenge won't help. In some things ninja's disobey rules of honor, but this is always true. Revenge makes you worse than he who hurt you."_

"_Protect my precious people…"_

"_You are a hero, never forget that…"_

"_Protect!"_

"_A hero"_

"_By the way, I'm a boy"_

"_Revenge isn't worth any time. Just be brave"_

Kaiyou was breathing heavily, yanking herself away from the boy that was just climbing to his feet she turned to Shino. "Knock him out please," she whispered.

It had taken so much control to eliminate that strange bloodlust she'd felt. The boy was sorry, and revenge never worked. She knew that. Why had she felt so angry?

Shino was once again confused. There was something odd about his teammate but he did not know what. The boy sent his Kikai over to Haku and sucked his already low chakra dry. He might have been tempted to allow his allies to suck more chakra than the boy could live without, but he hadn't seen that Sasuke was more than unconscious.

XxOOxX

Kakashi had decided to quickly finish off Zabuza as soon as he'd felt malevolent chakra issuing forth from where his emotou-chan and the uke had been fighting the masked apprentice of Momochi Zabuza. Now Zabuza stumbled back away from Kakashi, a large hole in his chest. He fell to his knees, then forward to his face, already did.

The hole had been where his heart would normally be located. The summoned dogs that had pinned the man, to allow for Kakashi's chidori howled their victory.

A clapping noise penetrated the quickly dispersing fog on the bridge. "Looks like my little ninjas weren't worth their price. No matter, I prefer quantity to a lack of quality anyways. Kill the bridge builder!" Behind Gatou stood more than two dozen bandits, rogues and other unsavory men with weapons. "The ninjas you can do whatever you want with."

Kakashi sighed and glanced at his dogs. He was personally tired, and he knew that Kaiyou was as well. Sasuke was… It was up to him, Shino and the dogs. Kakashi looked over at Shino.

He almost had an eager look on his face…wait, what face? Kakashi had learned enough of the boy by now, though, to know that he would feel left out over not having gotten to fight. "They're all yours. Help him boys," he directed toward Pakkun and his friends.

A pack of dogs and a swarm of bugs immediately advanced upon Gatou. An arrow materialized out of the man with a _whoosh _before even the swiftest of the animals arrived. "Leave our village alone!"

The cavalry had arrived, led by a young 7 year old boy. A villager had shot Gatou. Shino had to make do with chasing the men off.

XxOOxX

A subdued group prepared to leave the village. It had been a friendly place for them in the past few days. Haku had disappeared soon after waking up from his forced nap. Only a note had been left behind. _It's time to protect._ Nobody quite knew what he meant by that, since Kaiyou had refused to read the note, claiming there was too much kanji in it.

Kakashi had taken another couple days lightly (filled with an orange book when Kaiyou was out of eye-sight). Shino had spent quite a bit of time training, relieving the tension of not having gotten to play a large role in the fight. Kaiyou had trained as well, determined not to let anything like the debacle in the ice mirrors happen again.

None of her friends were to be injured or die on her watch. Not again.

Kaiyou had resumed portraying Naruto after the battle for the bridge was over. Nobody other than Haku had realized that Naruto was indeed a she. Of course even Haku hadn't known that "Naruto" was an alias.

It was only now as they were leaving the village that the squabbles started up.

"Tch dobe. You were so pathetic, telling that brat not to cry when you yourself blubbed over me on the bridge. I didn't know you cared." A smug smirk adorned Sasuke's perpetually-pale face.

"I do not care you pervert! I'd rather…I'd rather eat trash than have anything do with you, you pathetic uke! Heh! I bet you just wish that Naruto had laid on you and bawled his eyes out!"

Sasuke stared, then looked away hurriedly, raven bangs hiding his face. Kaiyou paid no attention to the meanings of that statement. Naruto was really a girl so any male would enjoy that. But "Naruto" was supposed to be a boy….

XxOOxX

Please let me know how I'm doing!...to be honest I didn't expect the whole chapter to be the fight… And no, Haku will not pop back up in the story (At least I don't plan on him doing so. Sorry, no love competition.)


	8. Entry to Konoha

A/N: My apologies for not having managed to place an update a week ago

A/N: My apologies for not having managed to place an update a week ago. Too many things to do!! I ended up staying late at work, tried to go return an accessory for an iPod for the second time--the first time the saleswoman directed me to a piece that was NOT what I was looking for, then when I went in…they were closed, I had to go grocery shopping and make cookies. Oops too much to do on Sunday… So now it is Sunday again, and I have returned from a week in the sun.

As usual I do NOT own anything famous at all. Not yet! Please let me know how I'm doing, I really want my story to be well written. Everybody knows how much of an annoyance it is to find a story with a good plotline, but then lousy writing. We're soooo close to the chuunin exams, and I want to make sure everything is progressing well before then!

XxOOxX

Despite boisterous comments Naruto had been somewhat subdued the whole return trip. Kaiyou was confused, she had nearly killed Haku, for a moment she had wanted to with this perverse desire. Sasuke was quiet, as usual (well, he was normally quiet except for when he feuded with Kaiyou). Kakashi had to wonder when the boy would really open up. Sure he'd proven to be mentally stable, but that didn't mean he was healthy. He idolized and envied his older brother, in some macho competition he felt that he had to be better than Itachi. His near-death had not, visibly, changed anything about him. Shino watched Kaiyou carefully, with an obvious curiosity. He had changed the least-he had not not nearly died, nor had he had a strange experience. He was aggravated that he had not been useful against Haku.

Kakashi was watching his adoptive little sister carefully. He had felt the demonic chakra flowing around her, and knew she had to be feeling weird. Kaiyou knew about Kyuubi, and knew that he knew. He also knew that she would want to talk to her father first, and that she wasn't the clingy sort who would seek him out, even when the others were asleep, to take refuge with him. Kaiyou had always tried to be bright and sunny, about anything that mattered.

With a quiet, and shockingly introspective team, their arrival back into Konoha went unremarked upon, except by the Hokage, his staff, and the families of the other genin. Kakashi's returned was heralded by a sudden increase in jounins walking around the village with their nose stuck into an orange book.

XxOOxX

Six small homes, all painted cream with either blue or grey trim stood in a cluster. A buzzing sound permeated the air, a low undercurrent, around the homes. Inside those six homes dwelled the branches of the small Aburame clan. In a central location between the six homes was a large building, a dwelling for their 'allies'. There were other such buildings in the area behind the homes; the Aburame sector was at an edge of the village near a wooded region.

As he politely accepted a plate of dinner from his mother Shino finished telling his father about his mission. Uchiha-san nearly died. I was unable to assist, with low chakra levels and my colony not being able to handle the ice-user. Father I want to learn a weapon, beyond kunai and shuriken. As it stands I am unable to assist my team as well as I ought. I need to be more well-rounded."

Shino's father nodded. They would contemplate which weapon Shino was suited to. He was right; it was unwise to specialize only in techniques that would be limited against certain fighters, or those who knew of the Aburame abilities.

XxOOxX

Sasuke slipped his sandals off and padded on bare feet into his home. Over the years his mother had kept up the traditional gardens with the water features. Few Uchihas had survived, and none had been born in the last six years; of 28 survivors most were adults who had already borne children, and those children had been among the slaughtered. There had been four others, younger members of the police force, on guard duty, beyond him and Itachi. The district felt very empty.

Padding his feet along the halls he stopped and knocked on his brothers' door. Sliding it open he saw his brother leaning against the wall in his pajamas, a box of Pocky next to him, reading a book. Once against Sasuke wondered how his brother was so much more skilled than he, if he spent all of his spare time….being a sort of strange cross between Chouji and Shikamaru. ..or maybe Kaiyou and Shikamaru. Laziness, but a strange obsession with a food….and the ability to eat inhumane quantities of it without gaining weight.

"How was the mission?" Itachi's voice was quiet, but curious—to those who knew how to listen for it.

"We accomplished it, despite our client having mislead us." And he broke into the story of the mission, about the Demon Brothers, Kakashi's evil training, the battle on the bridge. Lastly he backtracked to Haku, what he really wanted to talk to his brother about. "One of our opponents was a guy. He looked really feminine. Kaiyou mistook him for a guy—right up until he told her! She was so upset that he was more feminine than she is!" Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle at that; it had been funny at the time, but it only grew more so as time went on. Particularly in the light of vengeance, something to rub in her face, as payback for the 'uke' comments he received from her on a daily basis.

Itachi too, couldn't help but chuckle in his low voice. Sure the girl wasn't feminine, but that didn't mean she wasn't distinctly female. Everything about her was petite, she was just too young yet to have developed a feminine flair to accompany her size. She wasn't like Sakura or Ino, trying to appear sexy even though it was impossible for a twelve year old. "Get your laughs over that now, brother. She is still young." She was barely considered adult—deemed so by becoming a genin-- but her age and body belied her status in society.

Sasuke scowled. It was weird to think of his female teammate as a female—something disturbed him about it. "Yeah, yeah, rub it in. Anyways this guy, he talked to us, when we met up before the battle. He was wearing pink…but he said something that made me think. Do you protect something nii-san?"

Itachi looked at the raven eyes of his younger brother. "Yes. This family. Konoha. Clients sometimes."

Sasuke nodded. Maybe that was what made his brother strong. He needed to find something to protect too. His team. His mother. What remained of his clan.

"Now you say this boy was feminine and wore pink? He's even more of an uke than you are brother."

A shocked silence, then an angry yell and the sound of boys wrestling filled the air of the Uchiha district, making it seem less deserted than it was.

XxOOxX

Kaiyou was sitting at her kitchen table with a large bowl of ramen in front of her. It was the size of a fishbowl, and was take-out from Ichiraku's that her dad had brought home for them. He'd already been briefed about the mission, of course, but now she was filling him in on the details. Or had been, she was just finished, but for one last thing. The joking about Haku, and bragging about her training was over; she was serious.

"Dad, I felt it. Kyuubi. …I I looked at my hands and saw claws, my reflection in the mirror…I wasn't me. I wanted to tear Haku to shreds with my bare hands…and my teeth." She looked down, bangs of reddish-blonde hair falling into her face, hiding her bright blue eyes.

Minato reached over and tilted his daughters' chin up. "But you didn't. You control the demon. It is not able to control you, unless you let it. The seal prevents it from controlling you unless you allow it control over you. Use too much of its chakra, Kaiyou, and it will be able to overpower you-use too much and you open yourself up to it. With training we can help you control it, strengthen your will so that most of its chakra will be yours. Its mind may be ancient, and its chakra powerful; but your body is yours and it cannot change that."

Kaiyou smiled softly. "So I can control the chakra? But I don't even know how to use its chakra. It only came out when I was angry. I was afraid for Sasuke."

Minato grinned. "We'll have to work on that."

XxOOxX

The next few weeks went quickly, and slowly, for Team 7. For Kakashi life went on much the same, but he had more free time. Minato was currently working on Kaiyou's training, helping her with Kyuubi. Sasuke was working with his brother; with an active Sharingan in each eye, those genjutsu that he had been learning would now be more effective, as well as his speed would need working on. He could now encourage the growth of his jutsu library. Kakashi would come in there, soon, but for now he was left alone in regards of Kaiyou and Sasuke's training. Shino was receiving training from his family. Kakashi hadn't quite managed to get it out of the boy what he was training on.

Most of his team he only saw why they showed up for a daily D-rank mission. It was weird not seeing them, after hours on end of being with them for the mission to the Wave. That mission had definitely improved their already commendable teamwork. For three genin so different they sure had learned how to work together. Well, except for Kaiyou and Sasuke fighting. Without that nobody would quite know what to do with themselves.

His genin were, however, due to meet him in an hour. Or rather, three. He was quite happy to get to announce to them that they would be participating in the chuunin exams. His excitement had bounds however; he was quite happy to relax and spend a few extra hours sitting in his chair, at the coffee table, with his book out in front of him, mask hiding his grin and muffling his giggling. Now, normally Kakashi tried to hide his giggling as he read, but in the privacy of his own home…well, there wasn't anybody else to comment, now was there?

A knock sounded on his door only half an hour after the meeting was set to begin. Before he even got up to open the door it opened revealing three familiar heads, a tiny female figure in front. "Nii-san! We're sick and tired of you being late, so we came to get you this morning! Daddy gave me the afternoon off, and you're not going to waste our time! Up! Let's go!"

Kakashi was surprisied, to say the least, to find that the boys were cooperating with her. Shino stole his book and calmly deposited it in his own kunai case. Their mentor could only hope that he would return it later. He didn't want to know how much trouble he'd get in if another of Kaiyou's friends … followed his habits. Minato wasn't thrilled about Kiba's perverted comments in front of his fair-minded daughter, to say the least. Sasuke gripped Kakashi's arms and Kaiyou was pushing him out the door, all while his mind was reeling in shock…

_How could they ruin his morning reading?_

He'd get the book back from Shino later, and coddle it for the rest of the day. Kaiyou was an evil woman to encourage its theft. Good-humoredly (and keeping his book in sight) he allowed his imouto to push him towards their traditional meeting spot. Arriving there she cheered.

"Yatta! Team 7 officially met for the morning. Now what's the news? C'mon do you have a good mission for us this morning? New stellar training? C'mon tell! Tell!"

Shino and Sasuke just stood behind her and caught each other's eyes with a long-suffering look. Really, they liked the girl. She was a good teammate, and friendly, but did she have to be so energetic all the time?

"Kaiyou it would be advisable for you to be quiet and listen to what Sensei has to say. He is attempting to speak," Shino advised her. Sure enough, for the past minute of Kaiyou's cheering Kakashi had been looking bemused, and had opened his mouth (as shown by a stretching of his face mask) and ended up closing it when her ranting continued.

"Oh," was all she said, as she quieted, with a kindly response by her dear friend Sasuke-, the traditional "Tch, dobe."

"Maa, maaa. I would have told you eventually. You didn't have to drag me away from my pre… you didn't have to drag me, neh?" Two dark haired-heads, and one fair-haired head shook at this statement. Unless they had wanted to wait an additional two hours, yes they did have to drag him to their meeting. "And sorry Seafood, I have no new training to add. Just some paperwork."

The genin groaned, or blanked out their faces' emotion even further, depending upon their nature. Each of them had already learned to loathe paperwork. What sane ninja didn't hate paperwork? …well Iruka didn't seem to mind it too much…he did occasionally help out Kaiyou's dad after all…Kakashi handed it over, and gave them instructions on turning it in before dashing away.

It would be more fun to spy on them for their reactions. Maybe a photo…

Kaiyou just moved to shove the paper into a pocket. She'd get a clone to do it later… But Shino reached over and stayed her hand. "He called a meeting to give us paperwork? Normally we only have to fill out a small mission report, as practice for solo missions or being the team captain."

Sasuke nodded, in a condescending manner. Kaiyou looked at the paper she'd already been about to crumple…then she looked up and grinned into the proud faces of her teammates.

"YES! The chuunin exams! We get to become amazing, awesome chuunin! NO more dumb D-ranks." Suddenly the grins on the boys' faces lit up, then Sasuke settled his down into a smirk. Only so much emotion could be expressed on his face in one day. His high collar hid Shino's smile.

"RAMEN! My treat! Let's get ramen for lunch!"

"It's only eight dobe." Kaiyou looked surprised. "Then breakfast! A snack! Whatever! It's on me!"

XxOOxX

On the way back from the bridge, towards ramen, Kaiyou ran into her little brother--adoptive, that is. Konohamaru and his loyal gang of pranksters. "Nee-san! Let's play ninja! C'mon!"

A small argument ensued. Kaiyou had promised to treat the boys to ramen (which they weren't really hungry for, but she had _insisted_ and it was far too troublesome to dissuade her) but she had also promised to play with Moegi, Udon and the ever-boisterous Konohamaru. Somehow, inexplicably Konohamaru managed to convince Kaiyou to play with him, just for a while. Then they'd all go to ramen together.

Shino and Sasuke would have snuck off, but every time they made an attempt she grabbed the collars of their shirts. "Hey, I still gotta treat you to ramen! We're gonna be chuunin soon! No problem! Just after I turn this little squirt into fish food if he won't tell me!"

The two boys ended up leaning against a tree as their female teammate chased the group of academy students. They chatted lightly and smirked about the situation. Kaiyou had been easy to convince to play; all Konohamaru had had to do was say he knew something about Shikamaru, but that he wouldn't tell her--Kaiyou had immediately yelled to the boys about food later, and that they had better wait, while she … attained the necessary information on Shika-kun.

They were still leaning against the tree when Konohamaru ran face-first in the belly of a tall foreign genin, clad in black…and was that make-up on his face? Konohamaru stumbled back and moved to run, but the foreign boy caught his long scarf. Suddenly Kaiyou was serious, as an older taller blonde came up behind the other ninja. They were both wearing an hourglass hitai-ate.

"Hey! Let him go!" Shino began to walk forward towards his teammate, and Sasuke took a better position, sneaking about, rocks in hand.

"I don't think so! This little gaki stumbled into me. I think I should have some fun." The boy shook Konohamaru. Kaiyou dropped into a fighting stance, Shino standing behind her, in a balanced stance himself.

The other blonde grabbed the boys' shoulder. "Stop it. _He _wont' like it. Starting fights." Kankurou pushed Temari away. "Just a little fun, it won't hurt…much."

He dropped Konohamaru and reached for the bandaged package on his back. "No stop! You're not using that!" Temari wasn't pleased by her brothers' actions. _He_ would be here soon, and would not like this.

"Bring it on!" Kaiyou's hands reached for a weapon apiece.

Sasuke interrupted the two hot-headed youth's fun, the bully. He threw a rock that squarely hit Kankurou's hand, causing him to release his puppet. (Not that Team 7 were quite sure what the bandaged…thing…was.) "What are you doing in Konoha? Trying to start a war?"

Temari wasn't quite sure what the boy meant by 'trying to start a war', but she did get to feel smug. This boy obviously didn't know about the chuunin exams. Kankurou was too busy rubbing his hand and scowling. "Aww, how cute, the wickle boy thinks he is tough! Well, boy, we're here for the chuunin exams."

Shino spoke up. "Then I would be careful whom you insult. Messing with Kaiyou and Konohamaru is not wise."

Kankurou scowled and reached for his puppet again. "You calling me stupid?"

"Enough!" A wave of bloodlust swept across the genin, making each straighten their backs and go wide-eyed. From the other side of the tree Sasuke had perched in a boy with crimson hair and black-lined eyes dissolved and reappeared on the ground in a torrent of sand. He was the source of bloodlust. "Do not make me angry." Temari and Kankurou stiffened and backed away from their own baby brother. He turned bright turquoise eyes upon Team 7.

"Who are you?"

"Oh! I'm Kaiyou! Should've introduced myself earlier," she babbled. The bloodlust was getting to her mind a little bit. There was something familiar about it, but she wasn't quite sure what.

"Not you, girl. Him," his cold eyes focused on Sasuke. "Uchiha Sasuke and you are?" Sasuke was cold and firm standing behind Kaiyou.

"Subaku no Gaara." The boy vanished in a swirl of sand once again: a low bloodthirsty sentence went unheard through the swirl of sand.

Shino scowled to himself. He hadn't gotten to introduce himself! He never got any of the action…well, at least, he reassured himself, his techniques were still an unknown to the foreign shinobi.

Kaiyou stood shaking off her fear, and the sense of something strangely familiar. As the group turned to walk off, perhaps back towards Ichiraku's, the game of ninja long forgotten, and the three academy students long gone (fled) another face popped into her mind. She turned to the boys. "Why am I always meeting feminine shinobi? Those two both wore make-up and Haku wore pink! PINK! And MAKE-UP! Maybe it's just all foreign shinobi that are feminine…I don't remember Daddy saying anything about that though…" She brightened, shaking off the memories. "Oh well, it's not my fault they're all too girly!"

It seemed that, for now, Kaiyou had no more worries about being unfeminine. She'd just decided that all foreign shinobi were too feminine, and that it wasn't her that was lacking.

XxOOxX

Okay, well that is one more chapter complete. Once again SORRY it took so long to get here! I think you can expect another chapter in two or three days (I'll be especially inclined to be kind and get it out if people tell me how I'm doing.) blah blah blah, END CHAPTER

Simplice :P


	9. Intelligence

A/N: And so begins another chapter, a FANFICTION version of a story I do not own

A/N: And so begins another chapter, a FANFICTION version of a story I do not own. At this point in time I can only say: start predicting the direction the story will take, because NOW is when new differences pop up!!

XxOOxX

An alarm clock set to the worlds' most obnoxious music began to play. Her father had gone through fifteen different alarm clocks before he found one that forced his sleepyhead daughter out of bed. The alarm clock was heavy-duty and played one tune, and one tune only. It did not offer different beeps—no, it played trumpets in the classic fanfare. Kaiyou had a love-hate affair with the clock. She wanted to smother it, and destroy it on a daily basis. It was heavily dented, but it wasn't going to break unless she threw an exploding note at it. She also loved it, because it got her up. She'd NEVER live it down if she were late (like Kakashi).

Kaiyou banged her against it three times, trying to find the off switch. She lie there for a moment and let her mind turn back on for the day. A slow processes, which was why she needed the alarm clock. Occasionally she'd forget that an alarm clock meant she was supposed to wake up. It was merely an annoyance on those mornings. This morning it was a quick process. Within minutes of turning the alarm clock off she was hurtling out of bed grabbing her towel and slinging herself towards the shower.

It was only ten minutes later that she hurled herself, red-streaked blonde hair dangling wet about her shoulders, in her standard black pants and orange vest over fishnet shirt. She was too excited to even have scowled at the drab clothing, which had been picked out for her—the vest she'd had to beg for! -as she'd dressed. Sitting on the table in front of her was a western style breakfast of pancakes, dribbled over with syrup. With her typical, manner less enthusiasm she shoveled the food into her mouth.

Minato looked amused at his daughter. Sure Kushina had been a tomboy, but Kaiyou took that to a whole new level. She could easily pass off for male, if it weren't for how petite she was. His little girl stood only at four foot ten, at twelve years old. Many girls her age were already almost done growing, and stood a good six inches taller than her. He looked at the girl, with all of her excitement over having a chance to become a chuunin. "Ready for this Kaiyou?"

She nodded and slurped down a glass of milk. "Just be careful. Other villages send their best genin teams. The children of the Kazekage are taking the exam."

Kaiyou looked up and then shrugged. Nothing would stop her; her dream, her goal was to protect all those she cared about and she needed to gain strength, to prove herself to be able to do that. This was a test of her skills, a chance to push herself. "I can do this dad! No worries!"

Jumping up she poked him in the belly playfully, grabbed her pouches of kunai and shuriken and ran off towards the Academy, where the registration and first exam was to take place. Outside the door she met up with the boys of her team.

Shino was walking along, sunglasses on even though it was still early and the sun wasn't very bright yet, as the buildings cast long shadows. His hands were tucked into his pants' pockets. He nodded a good morning to Kaiyou. She grinned at him, "Morning Sunshine! You and Uke coming in a pair again?"

Sasuke scowled at her. He thoroughly believed that she only half-knew what she was implying. It wasn't as if it were their fault that the Uchiha and Aburame clans lived on the same side of town, opposite the Hokage and his daughter. "Shut up dobe. You're worse than my fangirls.."

"I am not! Take that back! Besides I'm not the gay pervert!! You're a hundred, no a gillion times worse than me! You're the dumb fangirl!"

Shino sighed and reached a hand out, and clapped it over Kaiyou's mouth. "Let's not draw too much attention shall we? Soon enough I won't have to deal with you two," he mumbled, almost as if that were actually a dream of his. Once they were chuunin they would not always function as a team, and maybe those two would get along better for the absence.

"WHa? You guys we're a team forever, you're right up there on my list of friends -- huh? What's all this? Are we at the third floor already?"

Sure enough there was a large gathering of genin most from Leaf outside of a door. Shino looked around and conferred with his bugs in a low buzzing tone. Sasuke just smirked. Kaiyou thought for a moment, tilting her head and then glanced at her two teammates and grinned. It had seemed odd that only younger genin, those who looked about her own age, were present. Her skill with genjutsu was limited; sure she had learned henge really well, but she had no further skills with it, and had never been any good at breaking or seeing through genjutsu. However Sasuke was very good with genjutsu, and Shino's bugs weren't nearly as susceptible to genjutsu as humans were. They were not paying any attention to the floor.

Kaiyou grinned. She was right! They hadn't gone up enough stairs yet…drats, that meant more stairs…

There was quite a commotion going on in front of them. A green blur rushed forward and caught a fist. The guards in front of the door were only mildly impressed. A Hyuuga walked forward and gave the boy a hard time, and Kaiyou scowled. Neji-he was always so ..rude to Hinata! The boy was a bully, and she did not like him.

She marched forward, dragging the boys with her. "Hyuuga Neji! Don't you yell at him like that! He was being a real ninja, and honorable!"

Neji just turned his back, dismissively. A prankster wasn't worth his time. Shikamaru groaned, pitying the Hyuuga just a little bit—Kaiyou was in full-on rant mode. He wished he had something to protect his ears with.

The boy who was previously a green blur turned and smiled at Kaiyou. "That is very youthful of you! My teammate means no harm, his fires of youth run cold, but never fear! A youthful competition will do him good!" His large black eyes, under extraordinarily thick, busy eyebrows of the same hue caught a look at Sakura as she attempted to hug Sasuke.

It was love at first sight--one-sided love. The boy introduced himself to Sakura as Rock Lee. He ended up challenging Sasuke 'the number one rookie of this year, a worthy opponent, to a fight in order to win the love of the fair Sakura'. Sasuke almost looked like he would accept until Shino, wisely, interjected in low tones.

"If you accept that challenge we may be late and delay our chances at becoming chuunin. Sakura may view your accepting the challenge as a display of affec—" Shino didn't even have to finish. Sasuke had grabbed a hold of Kaiyou's shoulder, dragging her away from Shikamaru (to his relief). Lee didn't get his challenge match.

Even testing himself against an older genin, who had already proven himself to be very swift, was not worth having a fangirl think he might possibly, be beginning to hold affection for her.

Kakashi met them at the top of the stairs and grinned. "Good, you didn't spend too long on that genjutsu. You passed the unofficial tests—coming as a team, and arriving. Good luck." Kaiyou blinked. It was a test just to get here? Maybe the test wouldn't be hard at all…

Upon entering the room, at a calmer pace having escaped the situation Kaiyou was shocked. She hadn't realized how many other people would be attending this exam. Her thoughts, just seconds ago, flew out of her mind. There were too many people here to be too easy.

Her thoughts were distracted as a howl caught her attention. "KIBA! HINATA!" Kaiyou flung herself towards her two best friends, and caught them up in a hug. The two loudmouths of the class single-handedly made enough noise to draw out the ire of all the older genin present. That Ino and Sakura were hanging all over Sasuke didn't help either. Luckily Ibiki arrived just in time to yell some rowdy Grass ninjas who were about to turn Kaiyou into a pincushion into submission.

"SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN MAGGOTS! Fight now and I disqualify you." Everyone scrambled for a seat, separated from his or her teammates in the process. During the shuffling Kaiyou had come face-to-face with the make-up-wearing redhead from before. Shino and Sasuke had each gotten a look at Kaiyou and become nervous, as she obeyed Ibiki so quickly….she NEVER showed that kind of respect. Somehow Sakura and Ino had managed to find seats near Sasuke….Crap, he should have paid more attention to wear he sat.

"My name is Morino Ibiki and I am the proctor of this exam. A test will be given to you. You have an hour in which to complete it. Anybody caught cheating three times will be kicked out of the exam, along with his or her whole team. One instance of cheating and you will be disqualified." He continued on with the rules. Kaiyou sank down in her seat, groaning. A written test--she and her team were completely, infinitely doomed.

The test began and Kaiyou looked around the room. She wasn't near anybody that she knew. Her test had no questions, not even one, which she could answer. Kaiyou knew Ibiki, knew that she had to cheat but she had no idea how. Kage bunshins created a cloud of smoke, which would be visible. She didn't know any genjutsu beyond the henge, and that wouldn't work when she would be seen performing it on herself. Unless she could make it look like she was still focusing on her paper while instead she glanced at her neighbors? No, that would be really complicated.

A fire jutsu or a wind jutsu wouldn't work. Nor would an earth jutsu. A kawarimi with another's' paper might work, but Kaiyou had no idea to tell who had done the test well….no, knowing Ibiki that would be a bad plan.

She waited it out, and watched others' attempts at cheating, feeling nervous on their behalf's when Ibiki threw a kunai at a boy near her and kicked him, and his team, out of the exam. The black-clothed boy from Suna left the room, and came back. Kaiyou thought she noticed him slip something to someone else in the room, but she didn't catch whom. She didn't even have to look to see that Sasuke would use his Sharingan or that Shino would use his bugs to gather data.

Some part of her wished that her teammates could use the bugs to send information to her, but she couldn't understand them at all. Kaiyou, luckily, managed to get one answer off of a mirror that the green-persons teammate had rigged up. What was his name? Ah yes, Lee!

Whoopee, one answer right! She carefully scribbled her name on the top right corner of the paper, and doodled her time away. Her scribbles looked quite a bit like ramen… Long skinny lines all tangled together. Eventually Ibiki announced the tenth question. Slowly teams started to raise their hands, bailing out, hoping to go another day.

Kaiyou looked around and grinned. Sasuke would never bail, and Shino would never bail on her behalf—he surely had no need to. Kaiyou just sat back in her chair; Ibiki wouldn't like it if she ruined his fun—he loved scaring genin. She would know—he'd done it to her enough times.

When he stopped, and declared that it was now time for the tenth question, then immediately announced that those who remained had passed Kaiyou actually let her jaw drop. Secretly Shino and Sasuke had done the same. Most of the people in the room did.

Temari, the sister of Gaara and Kankurou (the blonde girl who hadn't wanted Kankurou to pull out his puppet) made noises of aggravation against Ibiki. Sakura asked questions about why. Kiba and Akamaru made barking noises. Kaiyou herself just chuckled. "That's just like you old man! Scare us all out of taking the test!"

Ibiki scowled at having been called an old man. "Just for that answer this question, all of you—"

Kaiyou froze. Her luck had just run short. It was just like in class, when she skipped school, and Iruka caught her and made the whole class do a pop quiz on something, like henge.

Anko, for once, saved the day. She flung herself in through the window with a big banner being sprawled out across the chalkboard. Kaiyou leaned back in her seat and wrote a little note to Ibiki. She didn't know this Anko woman, and she didn't like the way that she dressed. How could anyone move comfortably in a skirt?! And a trench coat?!

XxOOxX

The Forest of Death loomed in front of them. Sasuke, Shino and Kaiyou stood in a group discussing plans. They didn't know exactly what the mission was, but they knew that the forest had something to do with it. All of the other teams were busy planning and discussing as well. Shino and Sasuke were aggravated with their teammate, but couldn't help but grin at her. This was a serious test and here she was laughing it off.

"I didn't even ANSWER that test and the old man passed me! He must know a great ninja when he sees one! And now they think to scare me off with this scary forest? Ha! For a woman whose goal is to protect a forest is nothing!"

Shino and Sasuke were chuckling quietly to themselves as the under-five-foot girl called herself a woman. They were still chuckling, until they nearly choked in shock as the proctor threw a kunai at Kaiyou.

"Namikaze! Take this test seriously! Lives will be lost in this portion of the test. Only half of the teams here at most will continue on to the third round…"

Kaiyou rubbed the rapidly healing scratch on her face. She licked her thumb and rubbed saliva over the cut, wiping away the trail of blood. By the time they'd collected their scroll, Earth, the cut was just a thin scrape that was scabbing up.

XxOOxX

Sasuke glanced at his teammates, trying to decide who he thought should carry the scroll. He would be the obvious choice, the Uchiha, the rookie of the year. Shino would do well as well, Kaiyou was too … easily distracted. Seriously, he had to wonder what the shrink would say about that girl…there was something odd about her.

He and Shino had talked about her before, on a quiet evening when they'd ditched the girl with her father. It had been a strange conversation, not long after their return from the Wave.

They'd been sitting in the Uchiha home, up in Sasuke's room. They tossed a kunai back and forth at each other, trying to keep themselves occupied. Shino was the one who brought the topic up, which was unusual. He was actually quieter than Sasuke.

"Namikaze is strange."

Sasuke had looked up as he caught the kunai in one hand. He looked at his friend. "In which way," he responded dourly. "She doesn't' have a crush on me? She can run longer than us? She heals quickly even, apparently, from poison?"

Shino nodded and flicked the kunai across the room at a small bulls eye a much younger Sasuke had hung. "Her chakra is incredible, but wild. My kikai can feel it."

Neither boy could understand quite what that meant. As Sasuke lounged about in the shadows, avoiding the attention of his fangirls, he pondered his mysterious teammate. Kaiyou was so open, and yet she had secrets and a mystery to her. When she was younger she hid from chuunins, and escaped them, wearing that bright orange jumpsuit she had worn until a year or two ago. Her chakra and stamina were incredible. She healed quickly. But Sasuke and Shino couldn't come up with any bloodline limit that could account for her abilities.

The Namikaze clan was a mystery. Minato had been an orphan. Kaiyou's mother wasn't even from Konoha, but from a country that had been torn apart when she was somewhere around their age. The stamina and amount of chakra could be explained away but two things couldn't. A chakra that felt wild and the ability to heal, literally in front of another's' eyes: those weren't standard.

Sasuke glanced over at his tan-skinned teammate who was lounging in the sun, with Kiba and Hinata sitting next to her. She was chatting animatedly. They didn't have long before the competition would begin, and she hadn't gotten to see her friends much, Sasuke knew. Team 7 had been doing a lot of training, and missions in the mornings. Kaiyou had barely even had time to bug Shikamaru.

Looking at his teammate he noticed the scratch, or rather slender scab on her cheek. He wondered whether that scab would be completely gone before the end of the night. Sasuke guessed it would be.

A yell rang out telling the teams to head to a gate. Sasuke pushed his weight off the surface he leaned against, a small tree just outside of the forest, and stood up. He lowered a hand down to Shino. Kaiyou bounced over after giving an exuberant goodbye to her friends.

"Come on, come on! Let's give this scardey-cat forest a run for its money!"

"Didn't you hear the proctor dobe? People will die; we go about this carefully." Sasuke gave her a shove in the back, and Kaiyou stumbled to the ground. Decent kunoichi she might be, but klutz she also was as well.

XxOOxX

Nearby Kankurou laughed at the blonde who had fallen to the ground. He turned to his sister accusingly. "And you didn't want me to fight that? Look at her, she shames the name of ninja."

Temari wanted to agree but she was smarter than that. Sure the girl wasn't a great kunoichi, but…."Didn't you hear the proctor yell at her?"

Kankurou nodded. "Of course, that was hilarious! Girls' gonna get herself killed."

Temari hit his head and Gaara looked on with calm eyes. "She is the Hokage's daughter, you fool!"

To three children of the Kazekage that might not mean a lot, but it did mean something. It meant she was probably well trained—Minato had been well known for being a bit of a goofball in his younger days, but nobody denied his talent. What it meant to them was that she wasn't somebody they wanted to pick a fight with.

Gaara looked back at the blonde as she climbed to her feet and started an argument with Sasuke. A facial expression was visible on his face—something between a smirk and a grin.

All of the gates swung open, and the chuunin candidates dashed into the Forest of Death. Gaara turned his attention back to the task at hand, consoling his Mother that he would have blood soon.

XxOOxX

Kaiyou lead her team into the forest with her superior speed (and the only one with the energy to dash about at full-speed for hours on a 5-day long trip). Shino and Sasuke bounded on both side of her, and just behind.

"What do you think we'll see in here," she called out. "Maybe giant spiders, or or….wolves! Do you think there are any foxes in here?"

Shino conferred with his bugs for a moment. "My allies report that the creatures in here are very dangerous."

Sasuke looked around with his Sharingan active. There were little motions everywhere in the forest, and a tingling sense of being watched. The forest was definitely dangerous, which only served to excite the girl on the team.

A/N: Next chapter …hmm, dunno when it'll be. If you're all eager for it I may put some effort to put it out sooner, but I am working for the next three days.


	10. Heaven Isn't On Earth

Her ears buzzed and annoyance flared across her features

Her ears buzzed and annoyance flared across her features. Shino and Sasuke had become good friends—and now here they were clenching their fists and arguing in low, harsh voices. It was mere luck that they hadn't begun to full-out yell or wrestle around on the ground, as young boys in arguments are prone to doing. Apparently shinobi training had managed to keep ALL fights from becoming brawls, at least when stealth was required.

"… Knock out more competition if we set traps! Just because you and the dobe are scared, doesn't mean that we should let that dictate our plans! Knock out a few extra teams and we can win—"

"Our chances of success are low. We are merely rookies. By staying in the forest we ourselves risk elimination. We should head to the tower and rest, and strategize before the next segment of the exam!"

"How can we strategize when we don't know what the next segment will be?"

"All of them have involved teamwork so far, first espionage, then information gathering with opponents…it's schematic…"

"You and your schemes! What chances have we got with too many opponents…"?

Finally Kaiyou processed what they had been saying, having taken note of the insult Sasuke had casually tossed her way, and growled at them. "OH CAN IT! You two are acting like you're still six! Shino is right, we need to get out—other teams will eliminate each other, we just need to get our scroll. If we pass another team we'll take 'em on, but your arguing is stupid! We can guess all we want about the next exam, but we can't know! Rest is good though…"

Shaking off her thoughts, she grabbed both boys by the shoulder and hauled them away. Sasuke grumbled and Shino looked shocked.

"Dumb boys always arguing, when we should be finding that scroll. Can't keep their brains in their heads, or doing anything…pigheaded idiots…."

The hypocrisy of the statement was lost upon Kaiyou, but it sure shut both of the boys up…

XxOOxX

Kiba pulled Akamaru closer to him, calming him to keep him from whimpering. His eyes never left the view before him, half-hidden by leaves from a bush. His team had located another, and had followed them, hoping to get their Earth scroll. Another team, Sand, had beaten them to the Rain team. Sand was…horrible and scary. Fear…they could all sense fear around this team.

Hinata was trying to hide her eyes, and Sakura was clapping her hands over her mouth. Inside of her a pink-haired sprite was screaming "CHAA! Shut up! Shut up! These guys are killer!" For once both halves of her were in agreement; they were in big trouble!

The team of young genin watched as sand crushed a Rain nin to death, and blood rained onto the ground. They waited silent, and collectively let out a sigh of relief as the blonde girl spoke to the killer, and encouraged him to wait--that they could draw more blood later. Even as they knew they were safe, for now, each of them knew they'd forfeit, run away, if they faced the redhead.

XxOOxX

Shino listened to his bugs, and communicated with them. He nodded once, and turned to his teammates calling for his team to halt. Half a second later Kaiyou bounced onto a leafy green branch and turned to the two boys (who were, secretly, still scowling at each other). Sasuke was just a heartbeat behind her.

"A team approaches us from four o'clock. Estimated time of arrival two minutes." Kaiyou and Sasuke nodded. " Three-point formation. Which scroll?" Sasuke was succinct and down to business- his argument with Shino was a moot point when they faced a battle.

Shino shook his head, indicating a lack of information, as the three genin evaluated the ground nearby, and launched over to the most advantageous ground, swiftly in formation. They were just in time. Three, older, stronger, more battle-experienced genin showed up. Though clearly they were not among the most talented ninja (as shown by still being genin at sixteen years old) the sneers on their face indicated that they were confident in their abilities.

Fighting didn't seem to be their first objective however. "Oh look if it isn't a baby demon and her little side-kicks. Think you're capable of being a ninja? Of protecting the village? Yeah right, you destroyed it."

Kaiyou stood shaking, blue eyes wide as her teammates were bewildered. Demons? Kaiyou destroy Konoha? The older genin advanced on them. "You killed my brother, Kyuubi. I remember him dying when I was four years old, and then you being raised as the Hokage's daughter!"

Tears broke, and her voice choked. "I'm not! I'm not Kyuubi!"

But the genin, the leader of his three-man cell, cried out, "Die!" And launched himself at the blonde. She stumbled back, out of formation. A dozen kunai were thrown at her, strung with a killing wire. They flew at Kaiyou and her eyes widened in shock. Then her face firmed. A hand sign later and two poofs of smoke. She substituted herself with a clone that she had just created. The clone was shredded to ribbons, then poofed and was gone.

More clones appeared, and Kaiyou and them all ran in different directions. Her teammates were in battles themselves and couldn't help her. In this battle teamwork wouldn't work.

XxOOxX

Sasuke and Shino didn't even have a chance to share a glance of confusion or shock at seeing an older genin attack their tiny blonde friend. They were each facing an older boy themselves. One of them looked a teensy bit regretful. "Kyuubi has to die, and we can't have you reporting us…you'll meet her in Hell soon enough." His face hardened, and a flurry of senbon flew at Sasuke.

Shino was faced with a genin who didn't look as if he cared who he killed. Shuriken appeared in the man's fingers. Shino's brand-new, never-before-been-used-in-a-real-battle Kusari Gama, a weapon consisting of a weighted chain and scythe, came to his hand from where it had been hidden in a large pocket of his grey parka.

Dodging the senbon, something he was already familiar with thanks to Haku, Sasuke flew at the boy, a genjutsu showing him paralyzed in fear and caught by the senbon in place. A kunai came to his hand, and before the older boy had realized a genjutsu was in effect, he flung the kunai, wrapped in a fireball at his opponent. A smell of burning hair and singed clothing later, and the two were back at it, in a flurry of taijutsu.

The heartless genin battled Shino, most of his weapons being flicked away by Shino's weapon, the others' dodged. He would not rely on his allies for this fight, as long as possible, as a challenge unto his skills. His allies were already known by this opponent, this Konoha genin, who cared not for Kaiyou It was a difficult battle—his Kikai a known-factor, and his Kusari-gama being evaded with a series of kawarimi. Shino, too, was forced to use chakra as he jumped and ran up tree-trunks, and used kawarimi to get closer to the boy. The effort was not getting him anywhere quickly, and he was wearing out.

Worse, Kaiyou was still alone with the apparent leader of the older genin cell. The leader was frequently the best fighter of the group.

After a few minutes Shino signaled to Sasuke, and they slowly allowed the other genin to force them back…until they were within proximity of each other. Ducking down Shino launched his kusari-gama at Sasuke's opponents legs, binding him, sending a small jolt of chakra through the chain, as he'd been trained to do, knocking the older boy unconscious.

Sasuke, as Shino ducked, launched a series of small fireballs at his opponent, then in the rush of the bright flames punched the boy in the stomach, knocking him out cold. He quickly began to rummage through the two boys' belongings, searching for the scroll.

They were in luck; Heaven was a scroll in Shino's opponents' pocket.

XxOOxX

Itachi was kneeling down in the Forest of Death. His fingers touched the soil and came up with a dusty paste; blood, traces of sand, and regular old Konoha soil. Three bodies lay in the clearing; each mangled more than the last.

He looked upon the work of a cold-blooded murderer. As an ANBU guard he'd been dispatched to watch out for disturbances and to protect the village during the exams. That entailed assisting Mitarashi watch over the second part of the exam. He hadn't expected anything to come of it; the occasional body of a chuunin candidate, candidates tied to trees, unable to escape…those were fairly normal.

He hadn't expected the ground to practically be bathing in liters of blood. He hadn't expected there to be no real visible body parts remaining. It was a grisly affair--the largest piece was a chunk of skull bone, not yet picked clean of flesh by the local carnivores. It was fresh.

It was still the first day of the exam. Night had not yet drawn its inky curtain across the sky, further darkening the forest into a predator's realm.

Looking around he gathered up the metal portion of the hitai-ate of one of the victims. Rain, so such must be the other two as well. Taking one last glance at the scene he could only pity the lost souls and fear for his younger brother. Somewhere loose in the forest with his only sibling, and his two friends, was a killer, even by Shinobi standards. He thought they might have some chance of escape if they stuck together, but he worried nonetheless.

XxOOxX

The much taller, older, more experienced boy chased her down through the forest. He was going Kyuubi hunting. Kaiyou was running, swiftly, then circled about and let her clones lead him in circles, making one appear to be the real her. It wasn't, of course.

Then she set traps, lovely, lovely traps. That was a skill that she was fairly decent at; pranks came in handy on occasion! And having solid clones that wouldn't be hurt by the traps lead somebody who wanted her dead right into a dangerous volley of them…that would be quite a benefit for her.

When she had first learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu she had spared a moment of regret for having determined to give up most of her pranking--it would have been amazing to be able to prank people with clones…while she was in class, and then disappear…they'd never prove it was she…

Today she actually used several clones to help set-up her traps. Her time was very limited—there was only so long she could run from the other genin, and she needed lots of traps. Kaiyou, while brash and loud, didn't like the idea of fighting a genin who wanted to kill her, who was older, more experienced and much bigger than her.

Haku, who wasn't that much larger than she, had been hard. Kaiyou figured that she could probably take this guy down, but she'd also be tired and hurt in the process. If she could slow him, get the upper hand with traps….

Her clone was leading the boy this way. Kaiyou hid in the branches immediately above the traps' exit. Her clone set off only the first trap before being speared. Kaiyou almost winced as the fleeting feeling of pain, the memory of it from her clone, entered her own mind. The boy was just a small bit behind the clone, and catapulted himself into the remainder of the traps. It was….catastrophic.

Wire's, hair-thin and dulled so they wouldn't reflect light, were triggered at each stumbling step. Logs were dropped onto his head (small ones) and kunai and shuriken were flung at him, followed by Kaiyou herself, a kunai gripped tightly in each hand. She jumped, feet first, kicking him roughly off of the branch and tumbling towards the forest floor. He reacted, just in time, to grab onto a tree and stick to it using chakra. He was then forced to let go, as Kaiyou jumped after him, scraping the kunai in a long bloody furrow down his right arm.

The two genin landed on the ground, and Kaiyou began a flurry of taijutsu. The chase had worn the other genin out; his endurance, while more bountiful than his teammates, was nowhere near as much as Kaiyou possessed, even after having been in the forest for hours. He only managed one good hit, which sent her flying into a tree-trunk. He approached her, sensing the win, and removed another kunai from his pouch on his right leg. His eyes glistened dangerously

As he raised his arm to stab her through the heart, Kaiyou jumped up, inside of his reach, wrapped her arms around him and twisted her sore back, hitting him into the tree. She slammed a pressure point that Hinata had taught her to, and he was out cold. Kaiyou proceeded to tie him face first to the tree, arms around it, using a chunk of her wire. If he wiggled too much he'd slit his own wrists.

She looked at him seriously. Zabuza and Haku had wanted to kill her, but only because they had to. Those in the village who'd wanted to kill her had been deterred by her status as the Hokagke's daughter until now. Now, this one team of Konoha genin had used the chuunin exams as an excuse to attempt to kill her. And now Shino and Sasuke knew…

_Shino! Sasuke! _ Her mind reeled with the knowledge that she had no idea where her team was, and if they had beaten their opponents or not. _Shoot where are they…..uh oh….CRAP!_ A shadow, darker than the already-shadowed forest floor had moved and Kaiyou knew trees didn't move. Well, unless you lost something.

Turning around she had only just registered large bulbous eyes and scales when a long red tongue snaked out, wrapped around her torso, and delivered her, in whole into its mouth. A prison awaited her, made of poisonous fangs, but only for a mere moment, as the large snake swallowed and Kaiyou found herself going down a slide, headed toward digestive acids and death.

Apparently for a snake the size of … well, it was three or four feet in diameter, and …she didn't know how long, but it was big… for a snake that size, a girl that stood a few inches under five foot was not too big for dinner, but indeed was 'just right'.

XxOOxX

Shino and Sasuke had no idea where to find Kaiyou. The clones had run off in many different directions and Shino was begging to drag. He'd only used moderate amounts of chakra but it was enough to put him dangerously close to exhausting his stores of chakra. He still had to find Kaiyou, there was no skill that Sasuke knew which would help them find Kaiyou, and so it was up to them to search. His Allies could assist, unfortunately that would also tire them out and each would require a minute amount of chakra as an energy boost. He, of course, would have to supply the chakra.

Nevertheless, no matter how tired he got they needed to find Kaiyou. So the two genin sent out a search, consisting of Kikai, and themselves. They found an area where there had been a recent battle, and a genin strung up with wire--they merely turned their head, and ignored him.

Kaiyou wasn't there any longer, but it was clear that a large predator had been there at some point in time recently. They continued on with the search, spreading out quickly in the area.

XxOOxX

The snake wasn't feeling terribly well. In fact it felt like it had eaten a rock, and it just kept feeling worse and worse. His stomachache was abysmal. It, of course, didn't think about that, as it was a snake.

Kaiyou on the other hand, didn't appreciate being devoured. She manipulated her hands into an all-familiar hand sign, along with the three clones she'd already made. At first she'd hoped that she would be able to make the snake throw her up. That had failed. Now all three clones performed the kage bunshin no jutsu and created more than a dozen clones apiece. The snake's stomach lining stretched and stretched, some of the clones were pushed out through the snake's mouth. Others found themselves pushing through the stomach of the snake.

Kaiyou didn't feel like holding a funeral for the creature. She did, however, feel like a bath. The real her had been jettisoned through the hide of the creature, and now she was absolutely coated in this sort of thick slime. That would have to wait; she had to get back to the others….only problem?

She had no idea what direction the snake had taken her, nor did she know how much time had passed, which way she had run to begin with. Kaiyou was somehow emotionally tired, which dragged down upon her physical well being as well. In that state it didn't occur to the girls' mind to send out her clones instead of herself to search for the boys.

She stumbled along, running, searching. (And completely lost—heading away from where she'd parted from the other two members of Team 7.)

XxOOxX

Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji had just finished coming up with a plan. Ino had been griping and complaining the whole time, loudly. It was a shock that nobody had had an opportunity to attack them with all of the noise. Even as they turned to run and head out a noise caught their attention.

It was a small, slimy figure. The normally orange vest looked much more red than usual, but at the same time seemed splashed with an odd greenish color. Ino took one look at Kaiyou and held her nose, trying not to gag. Chouji put his chips away, lest they be poisoned by the stench that Kaiyou was giving up.

A grin lit her face, and began to fill her eyes. "I'm so glad I found you! I need to get back to my team!"

Ino just stared at her, in repulsion and an old rivalry. "Yeah, right! You just want our scroll. I bet you're trying to prove to Sasuke-kun that you can get one all on your own!"

Chouji looked surprised at Ino, as did Shikamaru. Ino turned her nose up and grabbed both of the boys dragging them off and away, after one last comment. " You couldn't get the lazy bum what makes you think anyone else would like you, especially Sasuke-kun?"

Chouji glanced sorrowfully at Kaiyou, he really just didn't know how to stand up against the girl, and his best friend never tried. Shikamaru thought standing up to Ino would be 'too troublesome' and he also had a policy of trying to ignore Kaiyou.

A twinge of guilt flicked through the three members of the team as they left Kaiyou without a backwards glance. Ino was too hotheaded to admit that Kaiyou wasn't likely to steal anything from Shikamaru, and neither would she relinquish her control of the boys to allow them to return and aid the girl.

Kaiyou felt her heart crumble a little bit, then settle into numbness. She continued to wander around at a fast clip, searching for Shino and Sasuke, or anyone she knew well for that matter.

It was hours later, after the sun had set, that she stumbled and tripped. Kunai flew at her and a figure jumped out darkness to assault her, then stopped at the last moment. It was Sasuke, who looked surprised.

He turned and glared at his teammate. "We looked for you for hours! Shino has chakra exhaustion from looking for you, for hours! We only just called it quits," Sasuke was about to continue on his rant when he looked at the girl. Sure, his teammate was a complete tomboy, but nobody sane dressed in clothes coated in…something that smelled horrible.

Sasuke sighed. "There's a stream twenty yards to the left. Go bathe, then get some sleep. Shino should be well enough by tomorrow."

Secretly he added to himself. _We'll get the explanations out of you tomorrow as well…what was that guy going on about? Kaiyou, the Kyuubi? _

A/N: Well, aren't you all shocked? Once again the outline I made for the chapter….a bit of it is going to end up in the next, since I'm already at the length I determined to write until, approximately, for each chapter! Now Ino and Shikamaru fans: NO I am not going to go around bashing them (or Sakura for that matter) the whole story. Just bear with it for now—the girls all see Kaiyou as the prankster who, gasp, disliked Sasuke at the Academy, and as such still dislike her. Shikamaru is just….Shikamaru. Loveable, but face it--too lazy for his own good, and 100 tactless with females.


	11. Friendship

Three genin slept past the rise of the sun, until tendrils of sunbeams made their way to the forest floor more than two hours l

Three genin slept past the rise of the sun, until tendrils of sunbeams made their way to the forest floor more than two hours later. No light made it into the cave where they slept, receiving some protecting from the earthen and rock walls. A brunette with bleary black eyes was the first to awake, and surveyed his teammates.

Sasuke could tell that Shino was still exhausted; he did not snore, nor turn in his sleep. Kaiyou, as always, slept like a log. He scowled at the girl, somehow, he wasn't quite sure how, but the whole mess that the day before had become was all her fault.

_Just what is she hiding? What did those genin mean?_ Idly he wondered if the genin had made it out of the forest alive, if somebody had untied them or if a creature of the forest had eaten them. Leaning against the wall, giving the other time a little more sleep—they already had the scrolls they needed, no need to hurry, he suddenly lurched his body forward tense.

That noise had not come from within the cave (he'd already explored and knew there wasn't an animal nest farther back). No, it had come from outside the cave where his traps were--

His eyes widened and he almost cursed aloud. He had been so tired the night before that he hadn't re-set the traps after Kaiyou returned from her bath! They were sitting ducks, with nowhere to run, fly, or flee to.

And there were people outside of the cave. Reaching over he clapped a hand over Kaiyou's mouth and then shook her awake with the other hand.

She awoke with a start, eyes wide but instantly darkening in anger. Blood dripped down Sasuke's hand; she had bitten him. Silently, with his typical grimace he pointed outside the cave, and cupped his hand to his ear: _Listen._

Kaiyou nodded, and Sasuke slipped his now blood-and-saliva-coated hand away, wiping it on his shorts. There was a single rustle in the leaves, then the sound of a drawn kunai.

The two awake members of Team 7 stood. The facts were clear, and made clearer yet as their adversaries spoke. " A couple of rabbits hiding in a hole. I think we should flood them out."

Two kunoichis from Rain and the shinobi of their team smirked to each other. Water began trickling into the cave, then coming in a steady flow. Sasuke and Kaiyou didn't even have to share a look; they both knew the other was annoyed (what else was their arguing good for?). Their belongings, and teammate were going to get soaked.

"If you want the scroll battle us, not drown it," Sasuke snapped in his most arrogant voice. He stepped forward out of the cave, attempting to be cool about it. His dear, wonderful, teammate ruined that for him.

"He he! I've already had my bath! It really wasn't necessary to make Sasuke bathe before you fight; he doesn't smell that bad…well, later he will." Kaiyou grinned at her opponents, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. These were foreign ninja—they couldn't be after her again, because of the Kyuubi, could they?

The other kunoichi scowled and engaged their fellow female in battle. Sasuke, who to date knew a fire jutsu, standard academy fare, and genjutsu to accommodate his Sharingan. Of course he had the speed, thanks to training, and eyes that could see anything.

Kaiyou, though a good genin proved to have pulled muscles as she leapt into battle, and her skin screeched at her as she stretched it. She had not noticed it the day before, but until she had bathed her skin had slowly been burning, and her clothes were dulled and worn looking. The stomach acid had been harming her all along, and burns take a large amount of time to heal, for the average person. Kaiyou would only need another day or two of time to have recovered completely. Her opponents decide that she wasn't worth all the double-teaming, and one slipped off to awaken Shino.

Sasuke was lacing his opponent's senses, bewildering him in genjutsu. The other boy knew that he was in a genjutsu, but with so many layers being thrown at him he could not break free. Not in time enough to avoid the fireballs being thrown at him. Ignoring his surroundings the other genin tried to create balls of water—a skill secret to Rain shinobi—to protect himself, but found that without being able to sense the fireballs coming, could not maneuver them well enough to protect himself. A few burns scorched the boy from Rain.

Kaiyou could not move efficiently, not to the best of her escalated dodging ability. Her clones were burdened with the same affliction. The other kunoichi was fast, but had much less stamina, and her aim wasn't terribly accurate Instead she lifted a parasol and rained senbon upon the girl who could not move away quickly enough.

XxOOxX

Hyuuga Neji had ordered his team to split up. TenTen had agreed with a calm look on her face—they were searching for a valid opponent. The Byakugan had a range after all, and the forest went beyond it. 360-degree vision could only see around so many obstacles. Lee had vowed, loudly as per the norm, to locate the tower before his eternal rival.

It was mere luck that his course did not take him too near the tower (actually TenTen had that blessed fortune) but instead followed a river, from which he could hear fighting, and saw squirrels fleeing an area of the eastern bank. He was curious and went to investigate the situation, to see the opponents he would face in his effort to surpass his eternal rival.

His curiosity was what led him to his present situation: holding a girl in his arms, kneeling down and putting her aside. "My youthful friend! You must not allow yourself to be overcome by such an honor-less rival! It is the destiny of those with flames of youth to overcome all competitors with the trials of hard work!"

Kaiyou grinned at her friend. "Thanks! I seem to have some leftover owwies from being a snake's snack. I'd never let this girl defeat my team! We're a man down though," she added.

Lee immediately nodded. He knew Neji would object to his deviation from their plans, but this was a fellow Konoha ninja in need. And perhaps, they knew in which direction to find the tower. He joined the battle.

It was over in a matter of minutes. Sasuke, having added thrown weapons and his clan's traditional style of taijutsu to the battle (as they were easier to do, and shocking to the opponent who had expected him to only fight using ninjutsu and the already used genjutsu) knocked his opponent out swiftly. Without having had a direction in which to send his water jutsus he had been unable to utilize them to their full extent.

The ground was dark as it absorbed the water, the parched land of the Fire country eating the water. Water element ninjas weren't terribly common in the land of fire, and furthermore the climate was such that water was always greatly appreciated, even so near a river.

Kaiyou had thrown a kunai at the female who had been about to enter the cave, having been distracted by Lee's impassioned arrival. She had turned and deflected it—right into the one of the few traps that had not been set off the night before, or disabled to allow her to enter the camp safely.

A scream split the air as a log fell on her back, and then two more fell upon her shoulders, and rolled off. Bruised, battered and very sore the girl found herself unable to stand. Lee didn't have to disable his opponent, not purposely. Her attention had been caught by her comrade's scream. A blow that had been meant as a feint caught the girl in the stomach, hurling her backwards into a tree.

Despite the team's start, they had finished badly. A classic mark of inexperienced, overconfident genin. The three genin were tied up, and their scroll robbed. Lee was dragged back to his team by Neji and TenTen who were displeased with him for taking too long and making them worry (not that Neji would ever admit to such an emotion).

XxOOxX

Shino stumbled out of the cave after all was said and done, Team Gai having left, and Kaiyou and Sasuke keeping an eye on their unconscious captives. "You should have woken me up," he grumbled.

He'd woken to Lee's yells of goodbye, having had a strange dream in which the sound of clashing metal was heard. Having exited the cave he found foreign ninja tied up, and his teammates covered in sweat. Obviously the sounds had penetrated his dreams.

Sitting down he leaned heavily the cave wall. Kaiyou tensed, knowing what was coming.

"I believe you owe us an explanation Kaiyou." Sasuke nodded and focused his dark eyes on the girl with splotches of bright-pink-looking skin.

"Those boys called you demon." Her face turned ashen.

XxOOxX

Silence wrapped around the three genin as they sped off toward the tower that evening. The three had a discussion, rested up some more, and then made for the tower. Sasuke was satisfied; he had eliminated another team, beyond the expectations and retrieved their scroll. They now had two Heaven scrolls, and the single Earth scroll they had began with. Now it was time to get out of the forest before another team attacked them in an attempt to gain one of those scrolls.

Shino was annoyed, that he had once again been unable to be of assistance during the battle. This time, however, it wasn't because his skills were useless, but because he had too little chakra to be able to devote to his own use. He needed to increase his chakra levels.

Kaiyou was silent, looking nervously at her teammates, who seemed determined not to look at her. They'd been shocked by her story and didn't quite know what to think. The three since had shared no words, beyond the necessary course of action. Kaiyou was nervous, and scared. She was sure they wouldn't attack her…but not even Kiba and Hinata knew the truth. She'd have to tell them now; they were her best friends….if anybody should know it was they.

What she didn't know was whether or not she would be rejected. Kaiyou was a living jail cell to a murderer, who had taken down members of both of their families. For that matter Kiba and Hinata's families had lost members to the Kyuubi; no family went unscathed.

With all the nervous energy and fear running through her, that her teammates were too distracted by their own thoughts to notice it was no shock that she hurled herself into Iruka's arms after Shino had analyzed and interpreted the riddle on the wall.

Iruka glanced at the other two genin with a glare. They both turned their heads away. Iruka picked the little girl up, the girl who had wormed her way into his heart with her pranks and lively attitude, and pulled her hair gently. A wobbly grin appeared on her face and she remembered that Iruka knew, and was good to her anyways.

A bubble of hope rose up in her. Not everyone hated her, the way the other Konoha genin had. Not everyone was willing to believe the worst of her like Shika and Ino.

"Congratulations on passing. You've still 36 hours of the test remaining. A couple other teams have arrived already and are."

Kaiyou looked up at the man she was still holding and interrupted him. "Can we go home until the rest of the test? Since we're early?"

A twinge of guilt slipped through Iruka as he shook his head. "No, you aren't to interact with family members, who might reveal the secrets of the exam to you, until the completion of the first and second round." _And any preliminaries that will have to occur—three teams already, and only half over._

"The other teams who have arrived, one from Sand, and Team Gai, have already been shown to the quarters in the rest of the tower."

For a moment Team 7 was puzzled. They couldn't see anything else in the tower—otherwise they would have explored before looking around carefully enough to note the riddle and that they must follow its directives to complete the exam. Kaiyou just tilted her head up and looked around. Nope no stairs, and they were already on the ground floor….

Shino, still worn out just turned to glance at Sasuke. He looked around, frowned, and then activated his Sharingan. With his enhanced eyesight he could catch the subtle workings of an advanced genjutsu. "Hnn, genjutsu," he articulated for the sake of his teammates, still not looking at Kaiyou.

Iruka and Sasuke led the way, Shino and Kaiyou following, as they walked through what appeared to them to be open air, though they could feel stairs beneath their feet. After ascending for a time they broke through the layer of genjutsu and up onto a balcony. TenTen and Temari were sitting against the railing talking. Lee was hovering around them, having been snubbed by Kankurou and Neji.

The redhead with a thirst for blood was nowhere to be seen. Iruka knew that the boy spent most of his time lurking in the shadows. His brother and sister never bothered to seek him out. At present Temari was actually arguing with TenTen, about weapons. Temari had begun the conversation scornful about the skill of the other kunoichi, who had taken much longer to arrive and relied on many more weapons than Temari herself. At some point during the argument Temari had been forced into a grudging respect, and had developed a more pleasant attitude. TenTen was relieved—Neji was awful enough, prideful enough, that they didn't need another with his personality in the Tower.

Kaiyou, not being tired, entertained herself by talking to Lee. She'd already had a run-in with Temari and didn't feel like joining a conversation about weapons. She only used kunai and shuriken.

XxOOxX

It was the next morning before Shino and Sasuke had come to any sort of decision. They'd spoken to each other that night, but hadn't been able to catch Kaiyou to speak with her, without braving Lee. They had both deemed themselves too tired to put up with ranting about youth from him.

Catching Kaiyou to tell her was difficult. When she wasn't using Lee as a bodyguard she was avoiding them a little more obviously. Without an alarm clock to drag her out of bed she had difficulty that morning however. Their decision that morning was to trap her in the room, which was easy since she was still asleep, snoring lightly. After waiting for half an hour they got fed up and threw a pack of gear on top of their comrade.

Then they threw another, as that did not rouse her quickly. She blinked bleary eyes and stared around. Then her eyes shaded--she had awoken quickly, all of her memories flooding her mind with the realization of what the boys knew. Neither of the boys acknowledged the nervousness and slight fear that was apparent in her eyes: it would do nobody any good.

Shino was the one who spoke first. "Those boys were idiots. Revenge on an innocent party is inexcusable behavior." Kaiyou blinked, the words filtering through her mind. Sasuke beat her to the punch however.

"Tch. He means you're not strong enough to have killed all those people, now or then dobe." Kaiyou glared and began insulting him.

"I know what he said! I'm not an idiot! Dumb Uke!" The last sentiment was yelled, and Sasuke froze his eyes widening.

A chuckle could be heard from outside the door. Running, to the door he looked outside of the keyhole. Kankurou and Neji had been sitting not far from their door. Neji's face was straight, but a smirk kept pulling at his lips. Kankurou was outright laughing. Sasuke turned back to Kaiyou and attempted to throttle her.

It looked as if her nickname for him had just become public knowledge, something he had avoided until this point in time. His cool exterior, his act, had broken and there trying to kill his teammate in a fit of anger was the real Sasuke. Shino let a smile slip over his face, hidden by the neckline of his parka, and left the room. He beckoned to the boys, who came warily over.

Sasuke blushed four different shades of red at being seen by the other boys pinning Kaiyou to the bed, attempting to throttle her.

XxOOxX

The rest of the days in the Tower went much better than that first afternoon had. Shino suggested that the rest of the exam would test individual strengths. First ninja must work together as a team, but when separated they must have the skills to stand alone. That was what he explained to them, saying that it was something his father had said to him upon their team becoming official genin.

Kaiyou and Sasuke figured that it sounded reasonable enough. It also meant they had no real strategies to work on, and with no space free and clear of potential opponents they couldn't work on their own skills easily without revealing them.

Gaara was never actually seen within the Tower. Kaiyou however, didn't so much as spare a though for him as her friends in Kurenai's team arrived. Kiba was to be heard complaining very loudly that he had been beaten to the tower by Kaiyou. Hinata was quieter, but smiled at her friend, glad for her safe arrival.

If Kaiyou pulled the other two aside, with a nervous glance only Sasuke and Shino noticed the relevancy of the action. The two boys of Team 7 sat near the door of the room, sharpening their weapons. Thus it was only they who heard Kiba's outcry, "Cool! Do you get any super skills?!" A shushing sound followed.

Kaiyou came out of the room looking thoughtful…

When Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji arrived Kaiyou made no comment and did not greet them beyond a nod of her head.

On the last day, mere hours before the second exam was over a Rain team stumbled in, looking incredibly tired. The total tally of who had passed the second exam was six teams, eighteen participants in total. Not one of the genin was thrilled to discover that preliminaries would be necessary. Too many of the teams had passed the second exam.

Kiba, Hinata and Sakura felt their faces pale when the first battle was announced, the names scrolling through. Temari and Kankurou shared a glance: not even a boy who spouted on, and on, and on about 'the fires of youth' and being 'a genius of hard work' deserved what Gaara would do to the boy.

Nevertheless the first battle, between Subaku no Gaara and Rock Lee would commence. Lee vaulted himself over the edge of the arena, his opponent appearing on the floor in a twirl of sand. The first of the nine matches was about to begin, between a boy clad in green spandex and an insomniac, insane redhead with a thirst for blood.

Gaara had only been seen for the first time that very day, since his team entered the tower. He'd hidden himself away, murmuring to himself and his mother the whole time, perhaps taking an occasional stroll in the Forest, despite having completed the exam. Nobody cheered him on, although his siblings felt confident that he would win. Lee had made friends with the genin a year younger than he and had a few genin cheering for him.

Kaiyou's cheers incensed Gaara. After their first meeting he had become obsessed with her blood.

XxOOxX

A/N: This isn't' my favorite chapter, once again. The less eventful segments of my outline for the last chapter remained, but I feel this is an important chapter nonetheless. Now four of Kaiyou's friends know the truth and accept her for who she is, and don't shun her for what she contains.

Next time! The Preliminaries start off with a battle between Gaara and Lee!


	12. Winners and Losers

A/N: Sorry for the late update

A/N: Sorry for the late update. My older sister left for Finland where she will be going to school and living. It's probably a permanent move--her boyfriend, who is Finnish, went with her, of course. Between that and work I've been kept pretty busy. And blah blah blah…if owned Naruto, which I obviously don't, the fight scenes would be far less intricate and SHORTER.

XxOOxX

Kankurou and Temari shared a glance. They were both proud of their baby brother, but they also feared him. Whether or not they liked it, Lee had no chance whatsoever. Temari actually felt slightly bad for the loud-mouthed, bushy-browed, bowl-cut-hair boy. Her brother did not look in a calm mood to start with; his defeat would be particularly painful today, and death was…likely.

Most of the Konoha genins were unaware of this fact. Kaiyou was jumping up and down cheering for Lee. Shikamaru, bored, was leaning against the wall and Ino was trying to maneuver herself over next to Sasuke, so she could chat with him…._ maybe talking about Lee's techniques would be a good way to win his affections away from billboard-brow…_

Sasuke, ignoring Ino (and Sakura's) advances just focused on the match, as did Shino. Team 7's boys would compare notes later about the foreign nins. Neji and TenTen were both quietly watching the battle.

With no hand movement, sometimes, sand would reach out and form a wall around the redhead. Lee was fast, but not fast enough. For a while Lee just kept trying to kick the guy, coming in from every angle, above and to the sides, but failing to deliver any blow. Skidding to a halt Lee looked up at his sensei that nodded. "Toss 'em Lee! Show them the power of youth!"

Lee cried out in agreement and bent down, unlatching something around his legs, which appeared to be orange legwarmers. (Those had fascinated Kaiyou, and the two had bonded--Orange was Lee's second favorite color…) When his hands came away they held the legwarmers, which could now clearly be seen to be ankle weights.

Temari and Kankurou couldn't help but laugh. Gaara hadn't even gone on the offensive against the boy—no puny amount of weight would speed the boy up enough to take him on. The sand reacted instantaneously. What they didn't, couldn't, know was that the weights were of the heaviest, strongest metal that Gai could get his hands on. When they were dropped the sound of breaking rock filled everyone's ears and dust filled the arena.

When next the audience, some with open jaws (Kaiyou, Sakura, and Kiba), were able to see there was no sight of Lee, but Gaara seemed to be taking a beating, his sand reaching out to protect him, but clearly not quickly enough. Two large craters were visible near the large statue that marked one wall of the room.

Kiba and Hinata began to feel a little bit more blood rush to their veins. They'd seen this boy kill, with just his sand…but if his sand couldn't keep up, then Lee might have a hope…he might beat this boy, and they might not have to ever face him in battle… Sakura was conflicted… inner her was mentioning that this boy was dangerous…outer her was focused on telling Sasuke he was better, faster, and way cooler.

Eventually the speed was not enough, and Lee used moves that had Kakashi being forced to explain to the pestering Kaiyou, and giving mildly amused, but irritated looks to his 'eternal rival' Gai.

In the end, after failing to demolish his opponent with the gates open and the lotus performed, and hurting himself badly in the process, Lee was rendered barely able to fight. A hand of sand reached out from the boy and managed to latch itself over Lee.

A sickening scream tore through the air and everyone became silent. The jounins flew into action as the sand moved to inch farther over Lee's body. Gaara turned murderous eyes, a straight face, but clenching fists towards the audience as he approached. Kaiyou gulped…they seemed focused on her.

She really didn't like that guy.

XxOOxX

Within a few minutes the arena looked useable again, although a grain or two of sand, and a drop or two of blood might remain. The two craters certainly did, which only served to make the arena more realistic as a battlefield. Few ninjas had to fight battles indoors--indoor was for swift assassinations, and sneak-missions, not all-out battles.

Even before the audience had calmed their nerves over seeing limbs broken beyond recognition (except for the remaining two Sand siblings who had expected it) the scroll board was moving, flipping through names too quickly to see, then slowing down.

Finally it stopped revealing two names. One wasn't recognizable, although the face was to a mild extent, for they'd all been in the tower together after completing the second task. The rain ninja, clad in a black spandex suit to rival Gai's own, stood in the middle of the arena, within moments. Kiba jumped down a minute later, having bugged Kaiyou and Hinata to wish him luck, although, he bragged, he didn't need it. Akamaru was in his arms, and then placed gently, with a loving pat on his head.

The rain ninjas already pale face, paled further. Everyone in the audience noticed as he took half a step back, then appeared to gather his courage and stand still. Neji smirked, and Temari chuckled. Kaiyou was baffled; why would anyone react like that to a little dog? It wasn't like the guy could know Akamaru was a trained assistant to Kiba. He just reacted instantly!

As soon as the proctor allowed the opponents to begin their fight Kiba used his first jutsu, the preparation for most of his arsenal. "Beast Clone Jutsu!" When faced with two animalistic, feral looking Kiba's the Rain nin shakingly raised his umbrella and fired senbon, which were well aimed, and executed a genjutsu, one which smelled like rotten eggs, and accompanied with a fog, for just a moment and when it was cleared Kiba was holding his nose, which was clearly not liking the influx of rotten egg scent. Akamaru's version of Kiba didn't seem to mind the smell, but was putting his nose up in the air, searching for it.

The Rain ninja was nowhere to be found on the arena floor. Instead he was up in the audience. "I forfeit!" he yelled out, casting an embarrassed look to his teammates. They just groaned.

Kiba looked irritated to have been forced into smelling that hideous odor, and then having his opponent forfeit before he could beat him up. Grudgingly he returned to the stands, releasing his technique. The Rain ninja kept well away from Kiba. His teammates shook their heads at each other, thinking the same thing: _great ninja, but one weakness…. scared to death of dogs. I bet that made his phobia even worse…. puppy turning into a feral-looking creature…_

Kaiyou was just laughing at her friend as he came up and stood near her and Hinata. She pointed a finger at him, though he was only two feet away. "I bet you're so angry you don't even realize you won," she managed to choke out. Kiba's imaginary ears perked up and he grinned hugely, showing sharp canines. Kaiyou was right: he had neglected to think about the fact that he won--he would be going on to the final round of the Chuunin exams!!

Hinata tapped Kiba on the shoulder, getting both his and Kaiyou's attention. Everyone else had already noticed, that another two names were written on the board. Sakura stood bravely down upon the arena floor, facing a shinobi from Rain, who looked determined.

"I don't care if you're a girl I'm not playing easy on you! It's time to show everyone that Rain isn't a bunch of sissies!" The other Rain boy who'd already fought flinched…he'd made a bad impression, and he could only thank the Heavens his Kage hadn't been there to see it.

Sakura scowled and braced her feet. She knew she was at a disadvantage in this battle. She had low chakra stores even for a kunoichi, which was what Kurenai had been working on with her. She'd also taught her a new use for genjutsu. She had only one way to win this.

As soon as the battle began she performed a series of three seals, and vanished. The genjutsu was a mild one, and wouldn't work against an Inuzuka or any other clan with advanced senses. All this one did was confuse the mind into not seeing her. It did not silence her or remove her scent, or bar her from injury.

The silence was her own. Slowly, quietly she withdrew shuriken and threw them. One sliced a path through the Rain boys pant leg, drawing a thin bloody line. He scowled and charged at the location the shuriken had come from, his kunai withdrawn, obviously his weapon of choice.

Sakura was already gone from the location. Twice more she pulled that trick before the boy threw his kunai at the location she'd thrown hers from, running a scratch along her neck, and a few strands of now-visible hair falling to the floor. The second kunai scratched along her hand. Drips of blood fell to the ground as she moved now, rendering her invisibility useless.

As long as blood fell to the floor, it would mark her location. She wouldn't even be able to bind up her wounds, preventing the dripping of blood, since her location was known now. She released the genjutsu so that it wouldn't eat up her chakra stores now that it was of no effect.

Sakura gripped kunai in each hand, trembling. She knew she ought to forfeit, but she wouldn't, she couldn't! Not in front of Sasuke-kun.

Her defeat was swift, the Rain nin charged her in a flurry of taijutsu. Sakura managed to keep up through that, even knocked him away from her with a strong kick to the gut. He only came charging back, leapt in the air, and reached into his kunai belt. Sakura moved to block his kunai, but was unprepared for what he withdrew. A dozen tiny needles pierced her arms, numbing them, kunai dropping out of her hands.

Try as she might her arms were immobile to her. Turning her head to look at the miniature umbrella, so like the ones the other Rain nin wore, she was forced to forfeit. She couldn't defend herself, not with the numbness creeping through her body.

A nurse came and took her away, mentioning that she'd need a counter-venom agent. The Rain nin shared a look with his teammate, a look of pride at having not lost out of fear.

XxOOxX

Kaiyou was getting anxious for her turn to fight. Sasuke and Shino were getting annoyed with her. Her anxiousness just became all the worse when it was Hinata who would go next, along with the blonde girl (whose name Kaiyou couldn't remember at the moment) from Sand.

Kaiyou kept quiet, knowing that otherwise she would embarrass her friend. An angry Hinata was something Kaiyou didn't particularly enjoy, especially when Kaiyou's cheering would have caused Hinata to lose. Embarrass Hinata and she fainted-thus Kaiyou was far from cheering for her friend out loud.

She needn't have worried. That gigantic fan the other blonde—Ah! Temari! Had carried was disastrous for Hinata. When huge winds were blowing at you, yanking everything out of their way it was difficult to get close enough to use taijutsu. Hinata was forced to play it in the evasive, which she managed for a while, having developed a fair amount of stamina by chasing Kaiyou and Kiba all day as a kid.

Eventually though Temari let out a large enough gust of wind that it caught Hinata and threw her against the cement wall of the arena, where she slid to the ground. The proctor announced Temari's win, and the nurses took Hinata away with a concussion.

Kiba growled at the other blonde, and Kaiyou wasn't much happier, but both acknowledged that at least Hinata would be fine later.

And when was it Kaiyou's turn, for Kami's sake?!

XxOOxX

Sasuke went next, with Ino as his opponent. Sasuke was angry with the girl, and definitely wrote her off as somebody who he would never love (which he actually told her) after she refused to fight her crush.

Kaiyou was all on her toes, eager to go…after all there had been a pattern so far…all of Team 8 had went…now all of Team 7? She was just about to launch herself down to the arena when the names…weren't hers. The older genin, TenTen was set to face Shikamaru.

To the shock of everyone, for she had not told anyone of her encounter with Shikamaru's Team 10, she cheered for TenTen, screaming out things like "girl power". Everyone wondered if she had taken a page out of Lee's book, and why she was for girls not her long-time crush? Her cheering were dead on though, as Shikamaru was complaining about having to fight a girl…

The boy might as well have been gay for how much he liked girls.

Her cheers apparently weren't helping anybody tonight, then again she didn't cheer for Hinata. The battle was almost ridiculously easy for Shikamaru. TenTen threw tons of long distance weapons, creating shadows all about. You could barely even tell that he'd used his jutsu until TenTen was holding a weapon against her own throat and Shikamaru's empty hand was doing the same action. TenTen was forced to forfeit, or forfeit her life.

Kaiyou still wasn't next, but instead Chouji was. Kaiyou grinned at him as he went down, and he sighed in relief. His silence in the face of her rejection had not been taken too badly. The Rain nin scoffed when he caught sight of his opponent slowly headed down the stairs.

Rain-boy called out to his teammates with a smug expression. "I bet I can beat the fatso faster than you did the pinkie Renji!" Everybody from Konoha winced, then grinned. The boy had no idea what he had just done: cemented his defeat. Every Akimichi held a certain dislike for being called fat, fatso, chubby…. and Chouji was known to be quite assertive about disliking the term.

As soon as the battle was allowed to begin Chouji turned into a rolling, huge, 'meat tank' that chased after the Rain nin. The nin tried to throw kunai and senbon at Chouji…but they couldn't sink it well enough to stay in after they touched the ground at an angle, as they did to start before he would have been over top of them, driving them in.

The rain nin was steamrolled over, and pitying himself after just a few sort moments. The battle concluded with perhaps the most odd statement of defeat any of the ninja had ever experienced. "I AM NOT FAT! I'M BIG BONED YOU LITTLE BUG!"

Chouji might have compared the Rain nin to a pancake or shrimp but those were food, which he would then be inclined to like…so no, the boy was a skinny little bug that people walked on and squashed…

Kaiyou broke out laughing, and finally cheered for Chouji. "Great job Chouji!"

Asuma-sensei took his cigarette out of his mouth and grinned down, lazily, at his young student. "Barbeque on me." Chouji cheered, ecstatic.

It took a few minutes for the medic nins to clear away the flattened boy (who required hospitalization for several broken bones, including two ribs) during which time Kaiyou glared at the wall scrolls and then announced to her team. "That's it I want to go last! If I can't go early I might as well wait until the end and blow everyone away."

Sasuke and Shino glanced at the girl. Sasuke glared at her actually—he was still sour about his nickname having gotten out… "Tch dobe, it doesn't matter when you go, you're going to lose. Look at who has yet to go."

The only chuunin-candidates who had yet to go were Shino, Kaiyou, funny-ears boy who had wanted to start a fight all those days ago, and Hyuuga Neji, the genius with a bad attitude. Sure the guy passed his psychiatric tests, but he had an ego and believed in this destiny crap. None of them would be easy opponents: the unknown, the best of his year, somebody who could drain chakra and Kaiyou.

When the scoreboard changed over to Kaiyou's name she jumped up and cheered. "HA TAKE THAT YOU STUPID SCREEN! I OUTSMARTED YOU!"

Nobody knew quite what to say to that, as Kaiyou obviously seemed to think that the scoreboard was sentient. Neji coughed, straight-faced at the girl.

"Are you going to fight me, loser, or are you going to stand up here cheering like the useless idiot you are?"

Kaiyou's face darkened and she turned to Neji. "You..you overgrown pig! You're rude and horrible and mean. You think anybody who didn't come out the top of their class, who is a normal person is pathetic! You're pathetic! You believe in all this destiny crap and that you're the best, but I know how you treat people! You treat your own cousin like crap because she couldn't protect herself from a full-grown adult when she was six! SIX! You didn't stop that guy either, I bet you didn't even wake up!"

Both Sasuke and Neji felt twitches of pain. They both had lost people they loved that night, and it was true. They hadn't been able to defend themselves…why should Neji expect Hinata to have been able to.

"You cry and complain about everything Neji, say destiny is everything, but you're wrong! You yourself fight destiny every time you try to be better, to improve your skills."

Neji stared coldly at the girl he had disliked for so long, without really knowing why he disliked her. "It is my destiny to beat you, you are nothing."

Kaiyou lifted her head up to stare at the boy. "Then fight me. I will never give up."

XxOOxX

Next time: The final two battles in the preliminaries! Training! And hopefully a quicker update!

Oh and by the way--remember how I said to start (I think) that I hoped to have this finished before summer break ended…yeah that's not happening. Summer break has two weeks left………save me!!


	13. At Battle's End

Everybody could feel the tension in the air; it was so thick that it was almost tangible

Everybody could feel the tension in the air; it was so thick that it was almost tangible. Kaiyou and Neji were at the center of that tension, Neji's temper fraying but held firmly in check, his female opponent with clenched fists and flashing blue eyes. This battle, while it was something they could drop out of, and have second chances, was one they were betting everything on.

Egos would be raised or battered. Reputations were on the line. Neji and Kaiyou were going to battle as hard as they could. Neither would suffer defeat willingly.

The proctor jumped out of the way, swiftly, even as his voice rang out throughout the arena--match begin! Neji swiftly moved into his clan's fighting stance, one arm in front, and the other spread out opposite.

Kaiyou fumbled in her pouch and instantly threw out a small ball. As in hit the floor a booming sound echoed throughout the room, vaguely muffled by the smoke it emitted. Neji activated the Byakugan, veins bulging, pale lavender eyes searching throughout the smoke. He instantly spotted her.

"Smoke will not work on me," his voice was almost long-suffering. How many people had tried that on him? Too many to count, surely.

"I know," but it wasn't just once voice calling out, but a voice that echoed from different locations. "But it looks so cool to start?"

The smoke dispersed, and the audience to the fight was able to see dozens of clones—all of Kaiyou, ringing Neji. Shuriken and kunai, cloned along with the girl. A feral grin lit her face.

Kaiyou spoke to Kaiyou, both showing a level of intellect that was highly unusual in shadow clones. Most people were unable to put sufficient chakra into clones to work them properly for any length of time safely, and fewer yet trained them. It must be a family trait. Kaiyou spun her kunai on a finger. "Let's play a game."

Another Kaiyou nodded. "Kakashi's Training!"

Another countered, "No, Namikaze Version."

Even had Minato been watching his baby girl with a magnifying glass, trying to pinpoint her personality, her features, her attitude, he would have been unable to tell them apart. Each acted identical, and none put itself out as the leader of the group, and thus the original.

Each Kaiyou made a quick movement with her hands, a tiny glitter of thin metal. "Try the advanced version!"

And it began. Many in the audience winced at the viciousness, and the idea that this was training, a game to Kaiyou. Kaiyou threw the kunai, the shuriken and aimed for points that would force Neji to declare a loss, or face too much blood loss to survive. Despite throwing in a circle not one of the clones took a hit from the kunai, even as they were reflected back from Neji's technique.

Sasuke, now sitting up in the audience calmly, moved an inch to the left to dodge one. He grumbled over to his quiet companion. "Dumb dobe. Just hit the guy, don't let him send 'em at us, already…"

Shino glanced at Sasuke. "I am glad that we weren't forced to endure this training with her." For indeed, this was not Kakashi's version of the training exercise. Kaiyou had threaded wires, sharp enough to cut throats through the kunai and shuriken. Even as Neji flung them away, a blur of hands and chakra, the wires were threaded about, creating dangerous footing for the rest of the battle.

After a minute Kaiyou, all of the dozens of her, slowed to a stop, and began circling. "Should have known you'd have something up your sleeve." "A Branch member with great jutsus?" "Sounds like you're fighting destiny," Kaiyou mocked.

Deep within her head each Kaiyou grinned, having the same knowledge base as the original did. Kakashi had been disappointed to not get to use his famous lines (the ones that he had used during the testing of all of the other genin teams he had failed). Well his little imouto-chan would so kindly use them for him…in her own way of course.

Kaiyou planned to skip the genjutsu portion however. Her genjtusu skills were weak, especially for somebody bearing the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Ah, the Kyuubi, what a useless pet for her at the moment. It turns out ….at the levels she could access his chakra….her own was safer to use, and far more of it. Minato told her up and down that she could do it if she tried hard enough--but she couldn't yet figure it out.

So, first up Taijutsu…wouldn't that be smart….hmm…_No, let's rearrange Kakashi's lines…ninjutsu first, no genjutsu, then taijutsu…hopefully I've worn down his energy and chakra by then. _

Each Kaiyou pumped their fist, as the message quickly spread, through a series of hand signals she'd invented for herself. They were rudimentary, but effective. Taijutsu, pump fist and grin like mad, ninjutsu grab one wrist with the opposite hand, and genjutsu, scowl. Beyond that there were no directions, Kaiyou had just trained with her clones so much that they could play off of each other easily.

Swiftly the clones began running around, ceilings, walls, and the ground, each carefully avoiding the wires and kunais and shuriken on the floor. Occasionally they threw a punch or a kick, but were grabbed and thrown away.

To the audience it looked like Neji was fighting off an army of reddish-blonde children, each set on jumping on his back for a hug. An amusing imagine and not one that Neji would enjoy, in fact he might be angry at it for the rest of his life were he to hear that impression. Despite the impression given off Neji was not faring greatly—it was true, his energy was flagging.

He'd been forced to hold the Kaiten for a couple minutes, now dodge two dozen opponents who seemed to be able to read each others' mind. Or did all of those clones only have one mind to start with?

Kaiyou was taking quite a beating as well, or rather her clones were. They would disappear, only for a clone to make more. Each time he grabbed them he used his Jyuuken, the gentle fist, to destroy blood vessels inside of the clones, causing them to disappear, not being able to withstand such trauma.

Seeing the influx, and no Kaiyou obviously holding back, Neji was unable to determine which was the real Kaiyou. He was relegated to closing Tenketsu points on arms that he could reach, and on legs. His goal was to stop her movements, even if it drained him in the process.

Looking at her chakra passages he couldn't help put notice the ferocious glow of her chakra. It told the tale clearly; he was no match for Kaiyou in a test of stamina. He had to get her stopped, and closing the tenketsu, though costlier to him, was his only sure-fire means. She could keep creating those clones, and with her excellent synchronization he would never be able to tell which Kaiyou was which.

Her luck was incredible. With all of the clones he had grabbed, not one of them had been the real. None of them had NOT popped into bits of smoke. Even her luck had its limits however. Eventually, just as he was wearing down, after five minutes of throwing her away from him, on top of the chakra-eating Kaiten which was his best means of dodging the deadly weapons. She was fast, but even she could be caught by Neji, even with her incredible luck.

He caught her, and she didn't poof into smoke when he applied chakra to her tenketsus, forcing them closed. Neji threw her away, dashing after--the first time he'd moved from within a three foot space, and quickly utilized sixty-four strokes, blocking her tenketsus, leaving her hanging on the floor, with barely a trickle of chakra in her system.

She collapsed, tan leaving her system. Her friends rushed to the edge of the railing, Kiba and Hinata visibly showing her worry. Shino and Sasuke, along with Kakashi looked less worried. Neji turned to the proctor.

"No loser, even a Namikaze loser can defeat me. It is my destiny."

But no eyes were on Neji, everyone was focused on the girl. Her head snapped back, almost in pain, and she grimaced a sharp tooth showing for just a second. Her hands scrabbled against the rock, digging in deeply for a moment as she pushed herself to her feet.

"Namikaze's are not losers! Your destiny is wrong!" Neji turned shock evident in his eyes. He quickly activated his Byakugan once again, and saw chakra retreating back to her stomach, yet the tide of her own chakra continued to flow through her veins. The oddity of this struck him that maybe there was something more to her than expected.

As she stood she firmed her body. "That was only lesson 1, Taijutsu. Just wait for my ninjutsu!"

Kakashi hit his facemask in annoyance, for just a moment. She had mangled his lines…if she wanted to mimic her older brother she could at least do it accurately.

Quickly he prepared to perform a Kaiten, his best defensive move, from taijutsu, or from ninjutsu (although it had no effect on genjutsu, but that wasn't a needed element of his defenses). Kaiyou too was preparing a jutsu, her hands went through a series of seals, ending with Tiger, and a deep breath.

Flame expelled toward Neji, but danced off of his Kaiten shield. He released his Kaiten a second too soon, as in the wake of the fire came a shuriken. He was forced to duck as it came at him.

His Byakugan eyes watched, even as he ducked below the shuriken as Kaiyou herself came flying at him, running quickly, especially for her short legs. A kunai was in her hand, and aimed for his throat. If that touched him, he'd be declared the loser.

Even from his low position he began the Kaiten, with wide eyes. Attached to the kunai was an exploding note, something that no other competitor had utilized during the preliminaries. There was too much risk to self using one of those notes in close-battle, in an indoor arena.

As soon as the kunai hit his wall of chakra, the chakra ignited it. The force of the blast blew Neji, shield and all, flying into the far wall, Kaiten disintegrating as he lost his perfect spin, in an effort to catch himself. His head hit hard.

Kaiyou had had no protection and was blown into the other wall, below the audience. Rock dust filled the air, and when it cleared there was no clear victor, but there was a choked cry in the air. Both Neji and Kaiyou lay nearly unconscious. Neji stumbled to his feet first, having not suffered as badly as Kaiyou, who had gone in without protection.

His chakra was exhausted, so much so that his Byakugan had deactivated itself rather than consume the last dregs of his chakra, which were essential to his life force. Looking at the blonde through his double vision he could see torn and burned clothes, as well as skin. That had to hurt, and the idiot had done it to herself. Turning to the proctor he felt far more tired than he would have expected from a battle with the short loudmouth.

"She can't get up from that. Call it." A punch hit the back of his head and he fell face-forward, even as he'd begun to turn, sensing her presence. The clone, left lying burned and hurt in the crater popped out of existence.

Kaiyou grinned at the proctor. "He was right, call it. I just proved his destiny wrong…" she frowned. " I had to use genjutsu though…"

While she'd left a clone, hurt just as she was, lying in the crater, she herself had used henge to appear like a rock until he turned his back.

Suddenly Kaiyou blinked and sat down. "Note to self: exploding notes hurt."

XxOOxX

Minato, who had been alerted to his little girls injuries had presented himself quickly. Two doctors were clutched in his hands, and pushed at Kaiyou. "Take her to the hospital now!"

It was a few minutes before he'd been satisfied that they were carrying his daughter appropriately. One of the men had almost had the nerve to snap at the Hokage, say that he wasn't interested in flat-chested girls, but had though better of it….nobody messed with the Hokage's little girl.

Then the proctor had to drag in his assistants to make sure that all of the wire got cleaned up. The craters, obviously, could stay for the time being, but he felt it was a disadvantage to have so many weapons littered on the ground at the start of the match. It was a policy he had also executed after the TenTen versus Shikamaru match-up.

Now the only two contestants were standing in the middle of the arena, waiting for the proctor to go. The doctors Minato had dragged to his daughter had not allowed her to return to the exams to watch her teammate compete.

XxOOxX

Shino was aggravated once again. Kaiyou had grabbed all of the glory for that evening, coming out and beating an opponent a year older than her, and widely acclaimed as a genius. He was always getting left out of the great battles, first the demon brothers, then the battle on the bridge, then and the battle against that team that ambushed them while he was suffering from chakra exhaustion.

This time he could console himself that Sasuke had suffered a similar fate. Ino hadn't even been willing to fight him! That must have hurt his ego, quite a bit, to be the second contestant whose competitor refused to fight--the first having been Kiba. At least his opponent had been afraid of his dog!

His consolation was for little however, as he did not have a real handle on this battle. His kusari-gama was not very useful against a wooden puppet that was controlled so well. The puppet moved as swiftly as the original and was armored. The weighted chain would do little good, and the blade would get caught.

It took all of his skill in tactics to drain the other boy's chakra. Kankurou was a difficult opponent. His skill was nothing compared to Shikamaru's talents however. He had not been able to avoid a single hit by the puppet to his body.

Toxins raced through his system, and he could feel his knees weakening, then collapsing. The world came in and out of perspective. He only dimly heard the proctor's voice. Strangely it sounded a lot like a thundercloud speaking, from hiiiigh in the sky, then a patter of footsteps. He knew he wasn't getting that right…

"Double knockout. Neither opponent will move on to the next round."

XxOOxX

Only one winner was currently in the hospital, which was Kaiyou. She'd hurt herself with that exploding note, and could only be expected out the next day, with bandages. A lesser human, one say without a healing factor thanks to a fuzzy evil fox, might have been in the hospital for a week, before being released with bandages. Easily.

The proctor called everyone forward. Kakashi came forward as well, on Kaiyou's behalf, upon request by the proctor. It was important that this was relayed to Kaiyou accurately.

He explained that the finals would take place in one month. During that time they would be able to train and learn new skills to present at the finals. There would be an audience, so they should keep in top physical shape. Furthermore he explained that they would know in advance who their opponent was.

That was the point of each winner standing in front of him at that moment. A straw basket full of little pieces of paper, each with a kanji character inscribed upon it.

Shikamaru was first in the line, much to his dismay (to be first at anything was awful!). His hand brought out a number three. Kiba was next, after briefly conversing with Akamaru (the proctor wanted to hold his ears from the yipping) he ruffled his hand to the bottom of the basket before removing a number. 5.

Temari was much calmer about receiving her number. She reached her hand out and withdrew the number one, a single horizontal line of kanji. Somehow Kakashi had worked himself next to Temari in line, and with his book nowhere in sight he reached into the bin, his arm moving to brush against hers, until he felt a large amount of killer intent from farther down the line. Kakashi withdrew a number 7, the number that belonged to his sensei's daughter.

Renji, the sole Rain nin to have made it to the finals reached into the basket. Number 6. Only Sasuke, Gaara and Chouji were left to draw. Sasuke reached his hand in and calmly shoved his hand to the bottom of the three squares of paper. Two. Chouji just reached his hand in, already greasy from potato chips, and withdrew a number four. That left Gaara, who took his paper with a dull look, number eight.

The proctor then told the 8 contestants how the battles were determined. Number one with number two….and so on, and so forth. Each of the young shinobi present quickly thought back to the numbers the other seven had drawn.

Sasuke would be fighting Temari. At least this female wasn't head-over-heels for him, and thus would actually put up a decent fight, instead of forfeiting because she couldn't hurt 'her precious Sasuke-kun'.

Shikamaru and Chouji turned to stare at each other. The two best friends would be forced to battle it out in the arena. Two boys who each had a certain fondness for being lazy would have to actively fight each other. Oh boy, that should be interesting.

Kiba turned to the Rain nin appraisingly. The other nin had defeated Sakura soundly. As he turned to Renji, the Rain boy, he was unnerved to find himself already being watched. As an opponent who had only used one or two moves during the match his skills were relatively unknown, giving him a very mild advantage in the next round.

Gaara grinned, his black-rimmed eyes glinting. Kakashi had a vague worry for the small girl whose token he held, whose announcement of fighting Gaara he would be carrying to her and her father. The child of the Hokage, and the youngest son of the Kazekage would fight, and it didn't look like Gaara held much mercy. Kakashi and the proctor, as well as many other jounin present, wondered briefly if that was a safe match-up. A diplomatic incident was something neither country would want.

Yet the battles would begin in a month, preceded by intense training.


	14. Toads

A/N: My apologies

A/N: My apologies!! Gomen!! I had MEANT to update a full week ago!! But I got busy with work and heading back to college…Hectic no? Well, classes began today, but I've already got most of Wednesday's homework completed so I'll spend some hours on this for you.

XxOOxX

The news buzzed around the village. People heard different stories; slightly different versions of the story but the important facts were all the same.

There would be a Shika-Chou battle soon, the youngest Uchiha was facing off against the Kazekage's daughter and Kaiyou, who had disappeared, was to be fighting that creepy kid, the redheaded brother to Temari.

Nobody quite had the facts straight on where Kaiyou was. Some said she was training in the forest, others said she was staking out Lee's hospital room since her crush on Shikamaru (which everyone but Minato had known about for years) was obviously over, and the two were reported to have spent a fair amount of time with each other before the preliminaries of the chuunin exams. Other rumors claimed that the girl was with Kakashi on some high-ranked mission to help her gain experience, and that he had taken Sasuke as well.

Nobody guessed the truth. Had he spent any time in the village they would have guessed accurately, however Jiraiya had been in-and-out with his granddaughter in tow quite quickly. His blonde not-actually-related companion and her powerful father had made it quite clear to him that he was NOT to peep at the women in the bathing area. Kaiyou couldn't have her friends stared at like that, and Minato didn't want to have to make clones to deal with all of the extra paperwork Jiraiya would cause.

Jiraiya, for all he was a sage, couldn't get it through his head NOT TO GIGGLE. He was easy to catch, in a village full of kunoichi, when he giggled like a little girl. No, if Minato wanted to peep he was better of doing so alone, and if Jiraiya wanted to peep he was better off doing it away from Konoha. Not that Kaiyou would let him; she was quite willing to be underhanded and tell her father about his perverseness when he was supposed to be assisting her. The results wouldn't be pretty.

And so for a full month nobody in the village of Konoha, but for a few selected people, whom ended up laughing at the bizarre explanations that began to pop up, knew the location of Konoha's misunderstood princess. Kaiyou's friend and father weren't telling though; it was better for nobody to guess what she would be capable of upon her return to the village hidden in leaves.

XxOOxX

Jiraiya moaned and sighed, his strange warts popping out on his face. His hair shot out and protected his body, becoming a sharp wall of spikes protecting him from attacks in a full 360-degrees.

"Cool! That's the jutsu I want to learn! Then I'd really have spiky hair!" Apparently her quest for femininity was forgotten in her momentary desire to spike her hair and be a walking porcupine.

As his warts, and hair, receded Jiraiya looked at the girl. Her blue eyes were aglow, her red-streaked blonde hair flying in the wind. No matter how excited the girl was he could not teach her that jutsu yet. There were more important things for her to learn, and she would need offensive and defensive techniques in order to come out of the chuunin exams in good condition. Defensive would be useful, but offensive was the first priority.

The best defense is, of course, a good offense. (Though a good defense really is necessary!)

As he turned stern eyes on her, to tell her 'no' her lip stuck out of her mouth. "Please ojii-sama? I weally wanna learn."

Jiraiya fought the cute look she gave him, inwardly cursing about women and their wiles, controlling him. Really, it was their entire fault he peeked in at the bathhouses. But this time he would not give in, the cute look just wasn't as convincing to him as a sexy look….

"No, not yet. You have to be able to use Kyuubi's powers first."

Kaiyou's lip pulled back in and her blue eyes darkened as a scowl graced her face. "I've tried and I've tried and I've tried! I just can't get it! The chakra is so powerful……it's…rogue! I get a bit of it under control and it's really strong, but it hurts me to use it! I…I can't! Can't we do something else?!"

"Nope, you can learn how to control it. That's our goal…" He paused for a moment, and then an idea came to him, from something Minato had said to him just before Kaiyou pushed him out of the village…obnoxious gaki….

"_She has to discover the key within herself. She is what's blocking her own control of the nine-tails. The seal isn't stopping anything. She owns everything of the Kyuubi—he has no body, she has his chakra. All that remains of it is its mind, deep within the seal. _

"_It is within her control. Her barriers are erected by her body and mind."_

Jiraiya, wise in the way of men after years of traveling had a suspicion. All he had to do was teach her one little jutsu, and make some preparations then…he really hoped that he was correct.

XxOOxX

A week later Kaiyou was pleased to have finally summoned a toad that went up to her hips, which were admittedly rather low, compared to her classmates' but… it was a definite improvement! She knew that Shino and Sasuke wouldn't be able to boast the same feat so quickly. They had decent control, but their reserves weren't nearly as much as hers. Few jounin would be able to summon a larger toad multiple times in a day.

Yet, despite the happiness she felt over her accomplishment Kaiyou knew that she could do more. She was a jinchuuriki, a powerhouse of chakra! She ought to have Gamabunta easily. So eventually she went and found Jiraiya for help.

After he'd given her the jutsu he'd snuck off, and she had deemed it to worrisome to chase after him every time he headed for a bathhouse. The first night she'd posted a warning picture of him up in the bathhouses though…prevention was, after all, the more expedient solution. She found him, predictably enough, on top of a hill overlooking a waterfall (where she _hadn't_ thought to post warnings) watching girls in bikinis.

"OJII-SAN STOP WATCHING THE GIRLS PRANCE AROUND IN BIKINIS AND.DROOLING AND TRAIN ME! I NEED HELP!"

Jiraiya roared out in shock, having not noticed the short girl, and ducked his head down. But it was too late, Kaiyou's voice carried and the girls squealed and ran for their towels. He scowled and glared at the girl a moment later. He hadn't anticipated his plan becoming quite so much of a vindictive pleasure.

He stood up and turned to her. "Can't summon anything worth its mettle in battle?" Kaiyou nodded, pleased that he had finally paid her attention. "Then it's do or die!"

And he picked the girl up by the ankles, squealing and laughing not believing him, and walked toward a chasm that led down to the rocks. Her giggles only stopped when he let go, to be replaced by screams.

Ten seconds passed, then twenty. Jiraiya begin to pace back and forth worried about the girl…. In his head he was repeating a mantra. 'I placed nets in genjutsu, I placed nets in genjutsu…oh shit did I forgot to place the nets…damn girls prancing around in bikinis!'

He ran to the edge of the chasm and was greeted by a big warty face.

"You let this little brat summon me?!" Jiraiya, before Gamabunta could even hit him on the head, passed out from shock and relief.

XxOOxX

Kaiyou was falling, falling. Her own voice, screaming in high-pitched fear, echoed through her ears, shaking off of the walls of the chasm, rocky and sharp, no place for her to grip.

Desperately her hands formed the symbols for the summon, something they did without her engaging her mind. Desperately her mind turned inwards searching for every last dreg of her chakra. Tugging and pulling at the chakra she felt a sudden release as the last sign was completed.

Gamabunta popped out of thin air, his long cancer-stick fouling the air as Kaiyou landed on his back, and her mind slipped into blackness. A few words haunted her mind as she blacked out, having exerted too much chakra in one day after hours of summons. **Finally a little freedom, bitch. **

XxOOxX

The rest of training went much more smoothly. A barrier had been broken by Kaiyou, freeing up more of her chakra, and releasing the Kyuubi's chakra that flowed in her system, which was hers by rights. The seal would not allow Kyuubi to control her, although Jiraiya warned her that she was right about the chakra—it was wild, feral. Using too much of that chakra would overwhelm her rationality.

The effects of unsealing the chakra her body had hidden away in her stomach were small and yet so great. Her canines, already fairly sharp now bore even more of a resemblance to an Inuzuka--longer than normal, and sharp even when she wasn't performing a jutsu. Her chakra was no longer bound in caging a portion of her, and thus was available for her use.

Jiraiya found himself too busy to peep on the women in the area again as he had to help Kaiyou train the chakra the Kyuubi had once borne. It was violent and dangerous, but neither of them nearly died again. (Gamabunta had lectured Jiraiya quite a lot about risking Minato's daughter in such a manner. He was a father and didn't like seeing kids treated that way, furthermore if Minato ever found out…"

It was quietly agreed that this was one event that Kaiyou would not hold as blackmail over her adoptive grandfather.

And so the month passed for Kaiyou.

XxOOxX

Konoha passed in a much more quiet manner. There were no peeping toms in the bathhouses, let alone peeping Sannins. The hospital went about treating Lee as best as they could, to Gai's enthusiastic encouragement, and declarations that their "youthful skills" would soon see his "fiery protégé" healthy again.

Sasuke and Kakashi had both left the village in order to train, and Shino was studying with his family. Hinata and Neji had spoken enough to make it clear they bore no hard feelings for the other, although Neji had yet to lighten up enough to be friendly.

Kiba told his friend, with his head drooping on his arms after a loooong day of training, that it would take Neji a while. He'd had a stick ten feet up for so long that he couldn't possibly be nice all at once. Heck, Neji probably didn't even know how to smile. Kiba didn't lately either—something was clearly on his mind, and the only time he wasn't preoccupied was when his sister and mother were training him for hours on end, handed back and forth between the two.

Chouji and Shikamaru just seemed to watch clouds most of the time…. Although, occasionally, their fathers did manage to drag them away to train. Shikamaru's mother seemed to have the most skill at that, offering a friendly smile to Chouji, telling them that friends especially should honor the opponent and train hard.

Neither of the boys, or Shikaku or Chouza knew quite how to respond to that statement.

Minato was very behind on paperwork, despite using a great many shadow clones in order to complete the work. The other Kage's had been steadily arriving, and he had to personally review all of the reports ANBU sent in, plus there was the regular administrative work that had to be accomplished….

Itachi and his ANBU comrades were kept busy about the village, providing a guard detail that was mandatory to help ensure the peace that reigned during the chuunin exams. In particular the elder Uchiha brother wanted to see it kept safe, as his younger brother, and his friends were participating in the tournament. Too many tragedies had occurred in his life to be willing to allow another one to happen on his watch.

XxOOxX

It was the last day of the month given. Jiraiya was lying in bed, dozing off, completely insensible to the world. After Kaiyou had gone to bed the night before, early, he'd snuck out and spent the evening with what would normally be termed 'hookers'. Kaiyou, looking at him, had painted a mustache on his face in permanent marker, along with a ramen bowl on his forehead near where his hitai-ate would normally be worn, before sneaking out to train.

Her training area was devoid of trees and all wildlife when Jiraiya found her at noon that day. The girl was scarfing down the instant ramen she'd stuff into her pack on the way out. All of her clothes and everything else she'd brought for the trip were below the ramen.

As he surveyed the battlefield he noticed the fire she'd already put out, and the three instant ramen cups already consumed.

"You painted on my face, gaki. I'm not helping you clean this up before we go."

"But ero-ojii-san! It's all your fault for going out last night… And besides, I can do something SUPER-COOL now!"

XxOOxX

The arena was already filling up, with spectators. Some of them were pondering whether the Kyuubi-girl would show up, with mixed feelings. She had never done anything wrong, besides the insufferable pranks, but still…. wasn't she evil?

Others, who knew Kaiyou better were eager to see her again, and wondered what she'd been up to. Sasuke worried that he wouldn't be able to defeat her now that Jiraiya had trained her. Although what could Jiraiya really teach somebody who barely had a brain that she used to pay attention?

Gaara was eager, bloodlust shining in his eyes, all the brighter for having had his attack on Lee thwarted. He had so wanted to kill the boy during the preliminaries as food for Mother, a tribute in the form of blood, lovingly given. The blood of a boy strong enough using only taijutsu to attack him…that would have made a wondrous sacrifice. The blood of the blonde would be even more fulfilling. There was something about her that resonated within Gaara, telling him she was powerful.

Kaiyou arrived only a teensy bit late, having been forced into helping Jiraiya out of a situation with a woman…dumb man had used her as a body shield. Anyways, she'd turned up only a moment late. She wasn't the last one to arrive.

Without her there to keep in line Kakashi had gone back to his late habits, if only mildly. He wasn't hours late to something relatively important, no he was twenty minutes late to something very important, showing up just as the first fight was beginning, having had the rules announced to the public! Not only had the rules already been announced, but so had the order of the fights. Kaiyou had been surprised to learn that 1 and 2, followed down the line weren't going first…That was actually lucky for Sasuke, although she had to wonder if her father and the Council had known that Sasuke would show up late and rearranged them purposely….

Kakashi had used a jutsu to arrive right in the middle of the arena, dead in the middle between the two preparing combatants, just before the proctor finished raising his arm to announce the fight. Quickly he ushered Sasuke to the stands muttering his apologies as he went.

Once the two were cleared of the arena the proctor raised his hand. "The first fight between Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji will now commence."

The arena was silent and then began to call out rudely in annoyance as both genin just stared at each other for a moment.

"Troublesome."

"I don't want to fight you."

Shikamaru, who had no real desire to have to fight at all, raised his arm. "I forfeit. Even if I wanted to fight Chouji I don't want to fight in the finals."

Chouji too raised his hand just as the proctor was about to announce his win. "I forfeit too! Same reasons."

The proctor just groaned. "You both can't forfeit. The only way for you both to lose is double KO."

The two boys looked at each other, Shikamaru cocked his head and Chouji nodded, hands reaching for the chips that weren't there. Instead his hand, seeking around desperately closed on his kunai case, as did his friends'. They rushed forward once, both showing surprising speed for lazy-bums, and held the kunai to each other's necks.

The proctor sighed and groaned. "Fine! You both are disqualified and will not move onto the final round."

Everybody in the audience was staring at the two, wondering if they'd actually planned out how to quit in advance. Shikamaru looked at the ground, wincing under the weight of his mothers' gaze.

Later in the evening he would be heard to be complaining that he didn't even want to be a chuunin yet, that it would be 'too troublesome'. Secretly his father agreed. Chouza just looked at his son and told him that any other fight he could have won, but fighting a teammate wasn't anything to brag about, although he could have treated it as a practice.

Chouji had looked at his dad and shook his head. "But one of us would have won and maybe become a chuunin."

XxOOxX

The rest of the matches, Kaiyou hoped, wouldn't be as uneventful. Kiba and Renji, the boy from Rain who had been so smug to have beaten one of the weaker Konoha kunoichi, would be battling next. Then it was her turn, which she was excited, but nervous about. She had new skills, but would that be enough to face the redhead who seemed so strange?

The audience was also hoping for a more exciting battle next.

A/N: Okay, I want to send out a thanks to whomever (I forget and don't care to read every review over again) had commented on me making Kaiyou have a clean mouth … that's a bit of me coming through, and I can't imagine ANY version of Naruto not using curse words. I would also like to thank EVERYBODY who has reviewed even once on this story. Thank you for helping me reach some statistics that I feel are quite incredible, as I doubt I'm a well-known author here. 74 reviews, 16,561 hits, 16 C2s, 54 favorites and 107 story alerts.

I would also like to warn you that updates are only going to be about once a week from now on, as I'm back at college. Some weeks may get none, others may get two chapters…but school is in session and I am NOT taking out loans to get bad grades.


	15. Surprises of the Unpleasant Kind

Kiba let Akamaru jump down out of his hood when they reached the floor of the arena

Kiba let Akamaru jump down out of his hood when they reached the floor of the arena. A smug grin was on his face, heralding his confidence to all who could see. Renji, his opponent from Rain, looked with disdain upon Kiba's visage.

"Don't look so confident dog-breath. You won't win against me!"

Kiba growled, eyes darkening as he faced his opponent, in both a physical and verbal battle. "Big deal, you beat a fan girl with the Uke on her brain. You won't defeat me."

Renji smirked, a smirk so similar to Sasuke's that Kiba growled once again in annoyance. One Sasuke was bad enough! "Don't worry doggy. The best man will win."

"Of course I will…hey wait—" Kiba had a hand put on his head by the proctor. The proctor looked at the two young genin with a mildly annoyed look upon his face.

"If you're done acting like children?" Both genin nodded with an air of arrogance. Surely the other had been more childish. Ignoring the formality of the handshake the proctor turned to the audience as well. "Inuzuka Kiba of Konoha versus Renji of Rain may now begin!" With a flash the proctor was up and safely away, though within distance that he could easily interfere if he thought such an action would become necessary.

Kiba and Akamaru weren't allowed even a moment in which to prepare their jutsu. Renji had virtually flown at them, kunai in each hand. A flurry of taijutsu ensued. Akamaru didn't have a chance to interfere on his master's behalf; the two genin were moving too swiftly, and Akamaru would only be injured by a stray kunai, or manage to latch his teeth onto the wrong genin.

After a few minutes Kiba managed to land a kick that sent the Rain boy flying a few feet. "Akamaru here!" Obediently the dog came running over. Renji began to run forward again, but not before Kiba had managed to manipulate his hands.

A poof of smoke later and Renji was attacking two feral boys, one originally dog, one human with animalistic senses and instincts. Now Akamaru was in the fray. Renji was clearly having trouble keeping up. He made a hasty retreat, and then grinned.

His hands formed several signs and he ran forward and he began to throw balls of water at the boys, similar to Sasuke's fire. They didn't faze Kiba and Akamaru, beyond beginning to smell worse—two wet, overgrown, dogs. At least they weren't until some of them were being thrown with kunai inside, partially hidden by the revolving ball of water surrounding them.

For the two it became a necessity to dodge each ball of water, as a dangerous weapon, capable of killing, was hidden inside some of them. Renji was circling them, running around the two dog-boys in circles. The steps began to slow, and despite the water-bullets being thrown at them one of the Kiba's began to grin. Soon Renji was panting, staring at the other boy.

Kiba looked at…Kiba. Very few in the audience even had a guess, as to which was which. Those were the lucky, or unlucky, few who were intimately attached to the Inuzuka clan. Only they had seen enough of the Beast-Clone Jutsu to be able to distinguish the differences in behavior attributed to two different individuals. At any rate, one Kiba grinned even larger than previously, and the other mirrored it.

"Alright! Finishing move!" Calling out the name of his Jutsu, Kiba and Akamaru jumped together forming a swirling drill in the air, headed straight at the boy. They slammed into him, multiple times from different angles.

To the audience it looked like the boy was down. Maybe he hadn't been a great opponent after all? Surely he hadn't defeated Sakura so easily—it must have been a challenge after all. He hadn't displayed any great skill at all—Kiba was easily the superior fighter.

After three hits the Piercing Fang succumbed and fell to the ground, only to yelp loudly. "What did you do," cried out through the arena in an anguished voice. Renji grinned, a cocky grin filled with smug satisfaction.

Renji looked at the boy, and the dog next to him that lay on the ground, with needles pricking out of every surface that had hit Renji. "Easy, I knew you would eventually attack me head on. Did you think I ran around in circles for nothing? And do you really think that I don't have some defense?"

Kiba, were he honest with himself, would have been ashamed. As it was he was rash and decided not to think about it. Not to think about just how he had missed the opponent dropping tiny needles, point up, onto the ground everywhere he had run. How the opponent had used an umbrella with needles in it, during his previous match. He didn't think about those things, just about the pain he was in, and how he couldn't possibly be losing. Kiba tried to stand, but found himself barely able to do so, as a hundred or more needles stuck out of his face, shoulders, and belly (the last from how he fell). Akamaru too, was in a similar state of existence.

Renji walked forward, his umbrella in his hand. The needles were no longer in it, so Kiba didn't think anything of it as he tried to stand. It wasn't like an umbrella was a weapon. Slowly, too sluggishly, his body moved to defend itself from the next attack. A very heavy weight hit his head, and he passed out, puppies running in circles around his eyes.

Renji looked at his umbrella. "Huh, hard-headed guy. Dented the metal."

XxOOxX

Minato turned the Kazekage and the Kage of Rain, both of whom had shown up to watch the finals. "That was interesting. I didn't realize that you had begun to use metal umbrellas. They really do seem to make a nice weapon."

The Kage nodded his grey head. "Some of the younger ones are quite fond of them. Unfortunately they weaken in the rain and are difficult to repair."

The Kazekage turned cold eyes on the other two Kages. "Quite a weakness then. It seems he would be without his primary weapon in the next round."

Sure enough, the proctor had called the battle in favor of Renji of the Rain. Rain's sole representative in the third exam would be continuing on to the next round, the semi-finals. Kiba, like his two friends before him had been disqualified. To this point Renji was the only one going on to the next round.

Minato grinned. "Anyone care to place bets? I bet the proctor calls a three-way battle for the final round instead of giving a free-pass to one of the contestants in the semifinals…." For Minato betting was one way to relieve his anxiety. His baby girl was next.

XxOOxX

Kaiyou looked at her friends; at Hinata down in the stands with her family; at Kiba having needles pulled out of his face by a nurse lower in the stands; at Sasuke with his ruffled expression (somehow he knew Kiba had used…_that_ nickname); Shino looking on calmly from his position in the stands. She didn't look over at Shikamaru or even at Chouji, caught in his own loyalties. This was it; this was to be the battle.

She grinned, having completely forgotten the odd feeling of hatred the boy had directed to her on multiple occasions. Or rather, she forgot about it until she was standing down in the arena facing him. At that point her legs went weak, then locked, as she braced herself.

Gaara of the Sand was clearly crazy. She'd rather fight anybody but him. So she smacked herself.

_Kaiyou what are you doing? Don't psyche yourself out! You're Namikaze Kaiyou! You will take this guy on to prove you can defend your precious people! That Haku-gir—guy…had that right. Waah! He was such a girly guy…. and here I am. _Kaiyou smacked herself again, getting herself back on track, then grinned goofily.

"Okay! Old man let's get this going! I'm gonna make Daddy treat me to ramen after I kick some butt!" Gaara looked the girl in the eyes, and felt his excitement levels rise. The cork on his gourd popped open, and began to swirl around him, then launched at the proctor.

He shook his hands in front of his face as he jumped away. "Okay, okay! Namikaze Kaiyou versus Subaku no Gaara begin!" He was just glad that he didn't have to face sand-boy too much. Sure, he'd interfere (or forfeit his life if the Hokage's daughter got hurt) if necessary, but man did he really hope that wouldn't be necessary!

His eyes, as well as everybody else watched, silently, as Gaara raised hands of sand against the Hokage's daughter. She in turn raised her hands and created clones.

The battle was exciting, but not overly so, despite the strange tension that filled the air, to start with. Kaiyou, all twenty of her, ran in patterns, swiftly, giving the sand trouble. She was nowhere near as fast as Lee, but with so many different targets the sand was spread thin to react.

The clones hurled kunai, shuriken and fireballs at the Kazekage's son. Each time his sand blocked a weapon his eyes lit up a little farther. Suddenly the Kaiyou's fanned out, running up the arena walls, then charging back down, each in its own separate figure, drawing the eyes and confusing onlookers. They simultaneously flung themselves at the redhead, weapons drawn.

The sand morphed and turned into a version of Gaara, weapon of hardened sand, and sharp as any steel, drawn. Then two, then three versions of Gaara appeared. The clones were battling the sand in a very humanoid form. One clone managed to cut a hank of blonde-and-crimson-streaked hair from a head. The hair fell to the ground, and did not vanish.

Kaiyou slipped away from the sand clone that had been her foe, and made it to the original, as one of her own clones took over that battle. Gaara's sand, tied up fighting the blonde clones, did not react in time, and Kaiyou used a great deal of her strength (already very significant for a twelve-year-old female, even a kunoichi). Before the sand could react a kunai was plunged into the shoulder of Gaara, straight through his sand armor.

Only then did Kaiyou find herself hurled away, smacked with a resounding crash. Cracks spread out in the cement wall from where the girl had embedded herself into the cement. Even with her phenomenal healing ability she would suffer from broken ribs. Falling out of the cement she landed face-first.

_I should have used it…_ Her mind flitted in and out, blackening and reviving to light in polka dots. Red-tinged the walls of the blackness that kept trying to creep into her mind. The arena was silent. It was clear the battle was not over. Kaiyou moved her hands under her, supporting her weight on them, and raised shakily to her feet.

Gaara was encased in a ball of sand, a strange eye opened above it, a bloodshot eye that scared many in the arena right down to the core. A cough echoed through Kaiyou, and tiny flecks of blood landed on the dirt of the arena floor.

She yelled out, as confident and brave as ever, despite her fears. "This isn't over! I will NOT lose!" The eye swiveled around and focused on her.

Kaiyou stood up straight, raising herself to her diminutive height. A slight wince appeared on her face. It could have been due to her injuries, or the self-imposed hole in her lip: she'd bitten through it with her sharp elongated canines. She charged forward, several clones accompanying her, a kunai in hand.

The ball that that Gaara hid himself in was clearly not a good target, Kaiyou decided after one failed attempt to attack that sphere. Instantly changing her mind she utilized two clones to launch her skyward over the sphere, spears of sand chasing her. She plunged the kunai into the eye floating above the sphere.

Kaiyou tumbled away, landing on her feet. A howl of pain filled the air. Kaiyou felt her blood turn cold, and then hot as an anger she didn't quite understand filled her system. Everybody else in the area that could hear that howl felt fear. Children in the audience froze and then clung to their parents, friends, or older siblings. The genin froze too, fear gripping their souls.

Minato's eyes opened wide, and a nagging thought filled his mind. His eyes turned to the Kazekage who looked on with eager eyes.

The sand sphere constricted as the eye fell away, back into what it had been formed out of. The angered howl continued, and Kaiyou found herself dreading what new form it would take, even as that strange fury engulfed her, a fury she fought to repress. Anger in a shinobi could lead to death—that had been drilled into her so many times since she'd been old enough to understand that a ninja might die in the line of duty.

Sure enough, she and everybody else had been right to fear the shape of that angry howl, what it meant. From out of the sand emerged a creature of sand, half-human half-tanuki. Gaara's enraged left eye was visible, his right that of another being altogether.

Kaiyou froze, the anger having been forced away, leaving her completely herself and deathly afraid. The voice from the…creature rumbled through her body. It was still Gaara's—bloodthirsty and demonic all at the same time.

"I want everybody's blood. I'll savor your blood, your fear as you watch your friends die." And the long arm shot out towards the stands that were so near, where Kiba, Chouji and Shikamaru sat, having lost. Her moment of indecision was lost as she saw each of their frozen movements.

"Don't you dare," she snarled out and ran at the arm, broken ribs apparently forgotten in the moment of adrenaline.

The head of the creature turned toward Kaiyou that sick grin on its face, bloodlust quite clear in its, his, eyes. Seeing the sandy tail, and that look Minato, in the box above his daughter's head knew fear beyond what he had ever experienced before.

His daughter was battling another Jinchuuriki, one without control over his tailed beast. He stood even before he noticed what he was doing; ready to jump down and save his daughter. "Kaiyou run! He can't control his demon!"

Kaiyou didn't listen. Her whole soul was determined to defend her friends from the beast that was ravaging inside of the arena. As she ran forward Kaiyou howled out, "No matter what I won't let you hurt my precious people!"

Shuriken and kunai flew at the monster, to no avail. Kaiyou had known that, had heard her fathers' words. She wouldn't let this monster hurt her father, her friends, and the village that was her home. The kunai were batted away as if they were nothing whatsoever, mere flies.

In that brief moment of repose Kaiyou shut her eyes, focusing deep within herself. She'd pulled forth the demonic, feral chakra that swirled in her body, centered at her stomach many times before in training. Now she would, for the first time, intentionally draw it out in a fight. She would show something even Jiraiya hadn't seen, as she'd only perfected it on the morning the left to head back to Konoha.

The audience watched as Kaiyou began to glow red. Nobody knew what the girl was doing, but the older ninjas and civilians in the audience recognized the malevolence of that chakra. Minato watched with surprised eyes as an armor of red chakra spread out around his daughter, even forming a tail behind her.

Crimson eyes opened, and her sharp fangs peeked out of her grinning mouth at the host of the one-tailed demon. "Let's take this battle away," she growled out, her voice far lower than normal. The feral chakra, hers by rights, effected her body in many ways.

She no longer had broken ribs, and now she had a brightly glowing body. She reached forward with her hand and a bright glow of the chakra elongated from her body, forming a large, clawed, hand that slammed into the monster that Gaara had become.

The strength she threw him with was enough to slam him right through the wall of the arena. Kaiyou was fighting with double the power Gaara had at present, for he was only half-transformed, and insane with it. The screams of fear began to echo throughout the stadium as the tumbling of the cement wall broke everyone's trance.

Whispers went throughout the auditorium. "Kyuubi" "Jinchuuriki" "Monster" "Protect the children". Nobody even considered that the younger generations were not to know. Those who knew Kaiyou's secret, her little group of four friends were in awe, horrified. Sasuke looked at that power, knew it could be used to become better than his brother, but shuddered at it. Hinata, Shino and Kiba wondered at how strong the girl really was. How much of her was feral right now? Even Kiba went wild with the Beast Clone Jutsu—what was using the power of a demon doing to their friend?

XxOOxX

Itachi and a small squad of ANBU were patrolling the area, as part of the security detail for the Chuunin exams, when a loud noise, far louder than anything the Chuunin exams should allow for, caught his attention. Instantly he signaled for his squad to 'move out' headed swiftly and silently toward the destination.

He wasn't even there yet when he received orders from the Hokage regarding ANBUs latest orders, over the walkie-talkie. "ANBU squad Wolf maintain control in the arena…" Three more squads were listed, with their directives. "Squad Raven follow the signs of the fight. You are to neutralize the situation. Do not harm Kaiyou, I repeat do not harm Kaiyou!"

Itachi felt his heart skip a beat. Kaiyou? Minato continued on the walkie, "Her opponent is another jinchuuriki, the one-tail. He is the son of the Kazekage."

One word was ringing out through the minds of each of the ANBU: shit! They were supposed to neutralize a battle between two Jinchuuriki, and in a politically dangerous battle as well. If they killed or seriously injured either party it would result in being dismissed from duty as an ANBU, and/or starting an international conflict.

As Itachi and his squad resumed their mad dash, seeking at the signs of the fight, and then dashing after straight into a thicket of woods, which surrounded Konoha, he couldn't help but contemplate the situation.

_How long would it take Minato to arrive? He'd definitely come to help his daughter. _

_Did Minato know that Kaiyou's opponent was a Jinchuuriki? _

_How had the fight gotten out of hand? _

_And worse--would they make it to the battle in time? _Kaiyou and her one-tailed opponent had had two or three minutes of a head start on them, which was easily a long time in a battle situation. It could be long enough to mean the difference between life and death. Itachi didn't like thinking that he and his squad would be too late to rescue Kaiyou, the cheery girl who he had first met as a friend to his younger brother.

XxOOxX

Kaiyou snarled, red chakra swirling around her as anger fizzled in her veins, the rich heritage of the Kyuubi's hatred so powerful within her whenever she used the chakra that had once belonged to the fox-demon. The battle had evened out. Gaara was totally lost, a mere tiny blip in the massive presence, made of sand, which was the ichibi (one-tail).

They were in the middle of the forest, and she, a girl standing only about five-foot- even if covered in an armor made of malevolent chakra was facing a huge monster, with its consciousness intact (even if insane). She was facing a monster with experience in its body, insane, and powerful.

Kaiyou knew she was at a disadvantage. At present experience was not on her side. Nor was physical mass—she was a mere biting fly to that monster, no matter that chakra that protected her body.

A/N: Okay, how many of you wish the chapter didn't stop here? Okay, lots of hands there…mine included. However I need my sleep so I can go to classes and try to stay awake during another fascinating writing exposition class. Yay! (Note the sarcasm, please) I hope the fight scenes were up to your standards. As always, please let me know what you like best about the story, so I can be sure to know. Throwing in a little extra humor is always an easy thing.


	16. Perspectives

A/N: I have a Japanese test Friday…

A/N: I have a Japanese test Friday….and here I am! I have decided that this is a good chapter to revive the infamous disclaimer with: my Kaiyou is so awesome … clearly not Naruto, I'm clearly not Japanese if I'm studying the language in college….oh and yeah, I have a big head sometimes (see above statement) but I'm not famous. I fail the checklist for being a famous mangaka hands down.

XxOOxX

The screams of terror, and the last crumbling of the arena walls rang in Minato's ears. He could hear the sound of tress being torn to shreds as two beings fought, his daughter, _his daughter,_ pushing an insane jinchuuriki, capable of mass destruction, away from his village. The orders were given; but he could not go to his little girl.

As Hokage he had duties. He had foreign dignitaries visiting. He had a village to protect, orders to issue so that the people were safe and calmed, that order was maintained even in the most dismal of situations. The remainders of the Konoha police system, the Uchihas, were already at work quelling the crowds.

His duty remained with the man whom he most wanted to throttle. One sentence was all it had taken and Minato was about to declare war.

_The Kazekage had looked amused at the fight getting out of hand. His face remained apathetic, but his eyes had seemed so amused._ "_Do you think the Ichibi or the Kyuubi brat will win?"_

Clearly Minato could not leave the Kazekage alone. He had brought an unstable jinchuuriki, a huge political liability, to an ally's village; he had behaved in a way that put the treaty at risk. Minato was very angry, and wasn't about to let this slide. Especially if Raven squad was too late to stop the battle between Kaiyou and Gaara.

XxOOxX

There was nothing left of Gaara within the huge, giggling, idiotic, massive, powerful tailed-beast. There was no humanity. There was just this insane blood lust; this glee at being free to commit whatever atrocity was so desired.

Kaiyou, even with equal power, the same number of tails of chakra being used at present, was no match. No matter how insane the tanuki was Kaiyou didn't have the experience to match it. She didn't have the physical strength, the body to match.

It was like a flee trying to avoid a huge rolling stone; her legs were to short, and no matter how protected she was, she could do nothing to harm the creature. There was no point trying to peacefully talk to an insane beast either. So she ended up running, and dodging, her armor of feral red chakra protecting her when her speed wasn't enough.

None of her jutsus were having any effect on a giant creature. A genin wasn't meant to battle anything so large. Not even with gigantic arms of chakra that could throw it around.

She could do no damage just throwing the creature. It too was protected by sand, and there was no further point to taking the battle away from Konoha.

There was only one thing left for her to do. Chew on her fingers and ask for help. Every time she moved to do so, she'd be delayed. The ichibi, despite its insanity, was too canny.

XxOOxX

Team Raven, led by Uchiha Itachi, had arrived on the scene. Downed trees and baleful red chakra, howls and laughter from a sandy body greeted them. Itachi's eyes widened; he knew the two were fighting as jinchuuriki, but he had never imagined anything. He couldn't imagine how his team could help.

Before his eyes were two beings, no longer completely human. Both had an animalistic air, one far more so than the other. The ichibi, large, fat and tan, giving off an air of power, remorselessness, and insanity, enough to cause fear in a seasoned ninja. A small human girl, cloaked in red chakra, throwing arms out and having chakra respond to her, throwing a being twenty times her size around.

Chakra wasn't meant to be visible, expect in very, very concentrated amounts. Kaiyou was barely visible through the chakra that surrounded her. It was almost as if there were no girl, just a spirit of chakra.

Itachi and his team paused for just a moment, in shock at the scene. They'd expected a battle, but not this, not a little girl fighting a monster as one herself. He looked on wide-eyed; as the kazekage's son, possessed, broke free of the red arms, send bullets of sand at the girl. Her movements, far faster than anticipated, were a blur of red. Then a bullet hit and the red cloak flared brighter.

The sight of seeing Kaiyou hit spurred Itachi to action. His eyes forgot her status as jinchuuriki, and just watched as that bullet of sand had flung her tiny body back. Within moments, milliseconds, she'd ran forward again, intent on doing battle with a being she had no hope of overcoming alone.

"Team, restrain the Kazekage's son!" He met with hesitation. "Get down there NOW!"

His small squad of three dashed down to the arena before him. They never got within six feet. Kaiyou saw them and turned, and made an inarticulate howl as the men of Itachi's squad proceeded closer.

The Ichibi saw them too and grinned as his new victims. "Hey, play toys! Don't interrupt the main fight! Unless you want to be first…" Gigantic hands of sand dashed at the ANBU.

Kaiyou flung herself in front, passing mere inches from them, and allowed her to be grabbed in a fist similar to Gaara's Desert Coffin. Each of the ANBU of Team Raven fell back a step, away from the presence Kaiyou had exerted. It felt like their skin was burning, like they were holding something very hot, fresh out of the oven.

They covered their eyes as red chakra flashed brighter, and Kaiyou launched herself out of the fist of the tanuki. The chakra hurt their eyes, and they cried out, unknowingly, as to what was happening in the battle.

Itachi too covered his eyes. He hadn't rushed forward to attack the tanuki face first, but had rushed behind, the longer route. The Hyuugas might be able to see behind them, but not tailed-beasts, and the tanuki had much going on in front.

It was as the chakra reached its most brilliant point, as none could bear the intensity of Kaiyou's chakra that a voice rang out. It took Itachi a moment to recognize the low, snarling voice as that of a young girl's: "Stay back! I don't want you to get hurt!"

XxOOxX

Kaiyou didn't know who was interfering with her battle. She was too focused on fighting Gaara. She only knew she had to protect them; she couldn't forgive herself if somebody her father was living to protect, if someone from her village got hurt trying to defend her. She would not be weak! She would protect!

She would finally bite her finger, finally a reprieve as the flash of her chakra as she'd forced herself out of the tanuki's hand, tear it to shreds, had distracted it. She bit her thumb, concentrated, made her fingers dance in and out of symbols, and slammed her hand, covered in red chakra, onto the hard ground.

Even as the flash of red chakra died, as the ANBU could see again, and as the hand of the tanuki regenerated itself Gamabunta popped into location. Now standing on his head, a burning ball of chakra, Kaiyou felt hope. She could protect her precious people. Gamabunta was old enough to help her against an ageless beast, wasn't he?

He, however, didn't seem thrilled to have such malevolent chakra burning on top of his head. "Cool trick kid, but you're drying my skin out! It hurts you know!" Gamabunta, for a moment, was oblivious to the presence of the one-tailed beast.

"Ha ha ha! We meet again!"

Gamabunta turned his big, russet, head towards the high-pitched voice. "Great, I really don't like him. Insomniac freak."

Kaiyou blinked, as her cloak dimmed a little. Summoning Gamabunta had used up a fair bit of the energy remaining to her. But she couldn't win alone; she needed her big green savior. "Huh? What has insomnia got to do with anything? I mean Gaara has rings around his eyes, but isn't that just a raccoon-dog, err tanuki thingy?"

Gamabunta let out a low chuckle. "He drives his hosts crazy: His favorite game. When they sleep he takes control, if they don't sleep he tricks them into murdering, making them desire blood."

Kaiyou blinked again and then yelled out in glee, her voice still low. "OH! So I just have to wake Gaara up…but how do I stop the dumb bully from making him a killer?"

Gamabunta drew his weapon. "That's yours to figure out," he cried as he dodged a sand bullet.

The two gigantic beings clashed together—blade gripped in one hand by the tanuki, Gamabunta unable to grip with the other, as he lacked claws. Even Gamabunta couldn't do everything. Forced to back away Gamabunta scowled. "I wish I had claws!"

Kaiyou grinned in a feral manner. "You don't, but I do! Again!" And Gamabunta raised his blade, preparing to strike home, and Kaiyou raised her chakra-coated arms, launching claws at the tanuki, gripped him, holding him in place.

From her perch on Gamabunta's head, she moved to fling herself onto the tanuki's head. From this vantage point she could now see Gaara, his head lolling around his neck, suspended in the body of the ichibi. As she moved forward a figure, masked as a Raven appeared on the top of the tanuki, courteously held in place by Gamabunta and Kaiyou. Raven raised a katana and aimed it straight at Gaara's head.

Kaiyou startled herself by crying out as she landed on top of the tanuki, it's freedom of movement, returned to it by her action. "Don't kill him," she yelled out. "Don't!" As she landed her arms, made of red chakra, wrapped around the beast, securing her, without her even giving though to it.

And the Raven mask looked up, just as the tanuki moved, lifted its head and howled obscenities. His footing unstable Raven-mask began to fall, only to catch himself halfway down the tanuki's body using chakra.

Gamabunta took a direct head from the tanuki, and disappeared with a poof, along with his blade. The ichibi's hand moved toward the Raven, only to be held in place for a mere moment with sharp wires, courtesy of the rest of the ANBU team.

Kaiyou looked at the Raven-mask and then turned her back to him, and slapped Gaara with one of her hands, releasing her hold on the tanuki for that very purpose. The whole body shook, everything under her shook, as Gaara opened his eyes, wincing as pieces of sand fell away from his face, his sand armor cracked from the force of her blow.

The sandy body of the ichibi fell away, with a howl, as Gaara regained control. Raven-mask jumped clear, his squad flinging themselves free too, as their wires now securing only falling bits of sand. Kaiyou met Gaara's eyes and growled at him, before her eyes rolled up in her head.

She'd used the kyuubi's chakra for longer than ever before, on top of having had a regular battle before it got out of control. She fell to the ground, Gaara falling limply beside her.

XxOOxX

Itachi jumped clear of the body of the tanuki as it tumbled into pieces of stray sand. His mind could only marvel at the feat the girl had accomplished. Well, marvel and feel slight annoyance that she had yelled at him not to kill the boy. Annoyance that she'd had to remind him.

_If I killed that boy…oh thank Kami she stopped me…_ If Itachi had killed that boy, it would have been an excuse for a war. His mind had forgotten that fact, in a brief moment, at seeing the small girl fighting a monster.

Now, his mental faculties returned to him, he yelled out orders once more. "Catch the boy! If he dies…" Enough was said. One of his squad jumped to, catching the boy in midair.

Itachi himself raced towards Kaiyou. She was limp in his arms, bruised and battered. Tiny bubbles of red chakra lingered over her wounds, making Itachi discipline himself not to flinch at the multitude of small burning sensations that crawled over him where he held the girl.

He gently lay her down on the ground. Her eyes flipped open and she stared at him for a moment. Carefully Itachi slipped his mask off, for just a moment, to allow her to see his identity, so that she knew she was safe.

"Eh! Raven-san is…"

"Shh! It's a codename you idiot," he said mildly. Kaiyou smiled a small bit then turned her head towards Gaara, who was staring at her, limp and restrained. The other three ANBU were guarding him.

"I'm not an idiot! He is! We're not monsters. We're…we're…we're people too! We're the same as everybody else, we have our troubles… we're people and we can't forget that!" Tears slipped down Kaiyou's cheeks, as Gaara stared.

XxOOxX

As Team Raven carried back the progeny of the Kage's they fully got to appreciate the trail of damage that the two had wreaked. The forest looked like a wrecking ball the size of a strip mall had gone through it. The arena had a gaping hole in the wall, and would need to be repaired before any exams could take place.

The audience was gone, the other participants were no longer in the arena. The only people who remained in the arena were several members of ANBU and those who had sat in the Kage's booth.

Itachi, clad in his mask, gently but swiftly, carried the sleeping Kaiyou up to Minato. Gaara was carried up in a less-gentle manner.

Minato sighed in relief, his whole body relaxing for just a moment. Itachi held the small bundle of girl, and bowed awkwardly.

"Team Raven returning Namikaze Kaiyou and Subaku no Gaara successfully. Requesting to take them to the hospital, Hokage-sama."

Minato leaned down and ran a hand over his daughter's hair that had come loose and dangled from her head, hacked in uneven lengths. Then he nodded. "Take them both, keep Subaku under watch 24/7. Also check on the status of the other teams for me, will you Raven?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," the ANBU team chorused, prepared to obey their orders.

As Itachi and his squad turned away Minato turned back to business, ignoring a small twinge of emotion at seeing his daughter in another man's arms, the Kage of the Rain looking on quietly. "I believe we need to discuss this treaty." Turning to the Kage not involved in the discussion he offered a polite bow. "You are welcome to inspect your genin, or you may listen in on this. It will affect international relations after all."

XxOOxX

The girl's words kept ringing in his mind. '_We're people…people…we have troubles too…we're people!'_ He remembered the tears slipping down her cheeks, the way the ANBU agents had protected Kaiyou.

Was there something wrong with him that nobody loved him? Or had he never tried to love other people?

Though Gaara's mind was in turmoil, his body recovered well. His first injuries would not leave any scars. Kaiyou had protected him from death, and his few injuries would heal quickly. His skin felt a big raw where the giant hands of chakra had seized him in his half-transformed state, but it would not scar.

He was healing.

XxOOxX

Kaiyou lay still on her hospital bed. The red chakra had faded away from her body, leaving her mostly healed. She still had bruises deep within the bone, and musculature. She was more exhausted than she'd been…well, that wasn't true. Kaiyou had felt this exhausted the first time she'd summoned Gamabunta.

She lay on her hospital bed, and only flicked her eyes open, and plastered a grin on her face as she heard the door click open. All of the rookie genin who had participated in the battle had come to visit her.

Three looked a little sheepish, two looked at their teammate with something akin to fearful respect, and her two best friends looked relieved. Silence reigned for a moment, before Kaiyou split her lips open and spoke, "Did I look awesome or what?"

The silence was broken and Sasuke scowled. "Tch, dobe! You go and fight a monster, and you just say you looked awesome…"

Kaiyou's face froze for a moment, then distorted, blanking. Shino put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "He means that you looked cool. Subaku-san was very frightening that way. He was clearly unable to control himself."

Namikaze looked up for a moment. Then she grinned. Sasuke would say that instead of that she was cool! "Aww Sasuke! Don't start getting soft on me now, it'll ruin your reputation as an Uke!"

Kiba guffawed, choking on his laughter.

Sasuke colored and moved to lunge forward, angry, but Shino caught him once again. "I'd advise you against that Kaiyou. Unless you wish to spend more time in the hospital."

Sasuke stopped lunging forward and instead focused on glaring hatefully at Kiba. Clearly those two were fast becoming enemies.

"Aww Shino! You know I wouldn't do that…"

A noise caught Kaiyou's attention and she turned her eyes to Shikamaru and Ino. Chouji stood behind them, firmly. Ino stepped forward first, her eyes downcast. "I wanted to apologize to you. I said some very nasty things, and they weren't true." Then her blue eyes flashed up and she grinned, shakily, determined. "But Sasuke-kun is still mine!"

This started off the yelling between Sakura and Ino. It was surprising that Sakura had managed to stay quiet through the 'Uke' comment. Clearly the air was still tense. Quite quickly Kiba had enough of their arguing and shoved them out of the hospital room.

Peace and quiet filled the room. Shikamaru stepped forward and nodded. "She's right. Troublesome as it is, you're not all bad." Chouji nodded, stuffed a handful of chips into his mouth and grinned with his mouth full. Shikamaru, annoyed, or perhaps embarrassed, towed his friend out of the room.

Kaiyou looked at her four friends. Hinata smiled and came forward, louder and more open now that there were fewer people around. "Ano, I'm sure Neji-san and Tenten-san will come by to visit soon. But if you aren't well enough I'll tell them to wait…"

The girl shook her head carefully. "I'm feeling better already! A few more hours and I'll be good!"

Kiba's jaw dropped. "Wow, really? Geesh, having all that chakra must be soo cool! I wish I could be that strong…. you were like…!"

XxOOxX

A/N: I hope everyone is satisfied with this chapter. It will probably be next Friday before I can update again. I have about four tests within the next week. Maybe later. Gomen!


	17. Hospitals, Prisons and Perverts

As it turned out, Kaiyou did not like flowers, did not like polite visitations, did not like nurses pestering her, and did not

As it turned out, Kaiyou did not like flowers, did not like polite visitations, did not like nurses pestering her, and did not like hospital food at all! Neither did she like boredom—so it was no surprise to anyone who knew her that, within a day, she had successfully snuck out of her own room, dressed in a pair of shorts and an orange t-shirt and went on her own visits. Naturally, being Kaiyou, they were not polite.

All of her friends who visited hospital greeted her. Kaiyou flinched away from them; it seemed that after the shock had left they had begun to think about what they'd heard the villagers yell. They'd been raised to hate the Kyuubi, as it had slaughtered so many older relatives--and there, their very own friend, possessed the Kyuubi locked away within her body.

Two of the people she visited showed no fear or irritation with her: Lee and Gaara. Lee, when he heard grinned hugely and declaimed that her powers of youth enabled her to become victorious. It didn't matter to him that she'd had help by the means of extra chakra. Shinobi used what they possessed.

It was while she was in Lee's room that Kaiyou got her last, and least polite visitor, by way of a white-headed person sticking his nose through the window. "Kaiyou-brat! Your brat of a father has orders for us! We're fetching Tsunade. Come on, let's go!"

Kaiyou looked up, and then down at her friend, his leg braced securely, then a grin slowly spread. "I'll be there in a minute ero-ojiichan!" Jiraiya was already turning away when he caught the statement, then paused blinking, before turning and yelling at the 'stupid brat'. Really, was he feminine (as denoted by chan) or a pervert…. or was he a perverted girl grandfather…

Really, Kaiyou needed some better insults. All of her creativity had never made it into her vocabulary.

Smiling at her friend, ignoring her grandfather's mental ruminations, Kaiyou winked. "I'll get Tsunade-baba back here, and she'll have you fixed up! Then we can duel! See who is better!"

The miniature Gai grinned, but there was a tinge of sadness in his face, detectable only by the lack of his teeth's shine. Kaiyou stood up to leave, and then turned around.

"Oh I got one more stop, but I wanna ask first: do you hate the guy who did this to you?"

Gai looked up, eyes wide, his own sadness apparently forgotten. "I'm a shinobi! If I can't overcome this I have no youth! I will not let my flames of youth be dimmed!" Kaiyou escaped, and left the nurses and Lee's neighbors to listen to the yelling. "Flames of youth know no hatred! Flames of youth will always burn…"

Kaiyou found Gaara's room easily--his was the only room surrounded by a visible guard, for intimidation purposes. She grinned at the guard, waved, and wished she could still drop smoke bombs…the one nuisance of being a ninja, officially. Responsibility!

Kaiyou slipped in the doors and was greeted by the last words she had expected, particularly from a boy she'd had a huge fight with. "Your hair looks funny." What was worse Gaara said it in a monotone, forcing Kaiyou to argue back!

"Oh yeah? I think it looks cool. At least it's not a tiny red hedgehog like yours is!"

Silence reigned for a moment. Kaiyou put a hand up to her red-streaked blonde hair, which was indeed spiky at the current time, because of not being brushed properly and it's hack-job a la battle. Kaiyou grinned foolishly, "Forget I said that?"

Gaara narrowed his eyes. "Why are you here anyways," he asked, ignoring her suggestions. "I tried to kill you."

"You tried to kill my friend too!"

Gaara looked away. Kaiyou continued, "But it's okay, he's currently yelling out to the nurses how much he forgives you since it would betray his youth to do otherwise. So since he forgives you, I'll tell Daddy not to be too harsh against you. You're just like a bad puppy!"

Gaara didn't quite understand her logic. Puppies were pets, or to be raised as a ninjas partner. How was he a pet, or somebody's partner? He had always been alone…and why a puppy? He wasn't any younger than she.

"Anyways, I'm outta here—gonna go get an old lady to fix up my friend!" As she departed Kaiyou turned around, hand on the doorknob. "Oh, and how do you get the sand out? I seem to have some that won't come out of my hair."

Gaara just looked at her and twisted his hand out. A tiny stream of sand left Kaiyou's body—most, indeed, from her hair. She grinned. "Well I guess you won't owe me! Sand is a pain in the butt—don't know why you play with it so much!"

Gaara blinked, confused once more as the door shut. _Too bad I didn't kill her--that girl is a headache! No bad thought! Bad thought! Kaiyou is a friend, not food for mother!_

XxOOxX

As the sun began to descent towards the horizon, shadows dripping across the village of Konoha, Jiraiya and Kaiyou set out.

"Your dad and I agree. You're ready Kaiyou. Wanna learn a super-cool jutsu!"

Kaiyou grinned up at the older man. "Your right! I wanna learn a super cool jutsu! How about the Hiraishin! You can at least teach me that right? Then I could be like...faster than Lee! And I could be boom! One place, Boom another! And save everybody! I could be a hero!"

Jiraiya glared, a frown tugging at the corner of his mouth. Something was bothering the petite girl. And grr, that girl _knew_ he couldn't teach her the hiraishin--only her father knew that jutsu. He rose to the bait, knowing the true meaning behind it anyways.

XxOOxX

Minato looked at all of the paperwork, the kage of Rain sitting across from him, chuckling. He leaned back in his chair and sighed.

"That daughter of yours is quite the interesting person, Hokage. Coming in here begging for you not to hurt Gaara, that he was 'just a bad puppy, and was really really sorry'.

Minato sighed and glanced across at the other man. "I know, she has quite a big heart. Protecting herself is secondary to protecting those that she cares about. I couldn't be more proud of her. I'm glad I'd already made the council agree to not punish Gaara. You have the approval from your council back? I thought I saw you with a messenger bird," Minato said by way of explanation for his query.

The other Kage nodded his still-shadowed head. "Ah, my council was quite prompt in agreeing. It seems they, like I, do not deal lightly with a Kazekage who is so callous as to purposely endanger—and even order assassinations upon his own son, and risk an alliance in the process."

Minato grinned a small fraction and stood up, the better to shake hands with the kage of Rain. "Then it is agreed. We have the leverage to force the resignation of the Kazekage. A new leader will be found for Sand, one whom values treaties."

XxOOxX

_He's old! Why, oh why, is he still so much of a lecher? Leaving me all alone so he can go chase women! Geesh, he doesn't even pick a woman I'd be willing to call grandma if he, kami-forbid, married! Dumb stupid male. Who likes men! They're overrated! Forget that dumb phrase can't live with 'em at all, and just fine without 'em. _

Suddenly Kaiyou paused in her mental ranting as she realized she'd just written off Kiba, and Kakashi-nii, and her father, and even Shino, Sasuke and Itachi. Oh and Iruka too! Poor Chouji had been included…

_Okay! New determination! I must find some way to protect women from stupid perverts! …It all starts with that book!_

Not even bothering to set up her own futon Kaiyou set about scrounging through her grandfather's possessions. She was quite distracted with the procedure, cutting herself a few times as she managed to avoid the traps that he's set around his precious manuscript.

She finally gripped it, without triggering the exploding tags Jiraiya had rigged to go off. Only somebody with her expertise in setting traps (a.k.a. pranks) could have pulled off the feat. Holding the manuscript in her hands, a collection of papers tied together with a prototype, colored cover depicting a rating inappropriate for children; Kaiyou was surprised by the sound of a knock on her door.

She froze. It was a heavy rap, meant to summon her to the door. Was Jiraiya back already?

Her whole body stood stock still, having determined that it couldn't be Jiraiya—but that she couldn't open the door either. She had….icky books in her hand!

It seemed those at the door had no intention of waiting for it to be opened for them. With a squeak the doorknob began to twist, and two men entered Kaiyou's vision. They both wore sandals, and long black cloaks, decorated in red clouds.

Kaiyou and the two men were at a standstill for just a moment. They stood in the doorway, and her squatting on the floor, hands weaponless—unless you counted a handful of disgusting papers as a weapon. They stared at each other for just a moment, each with distinct features.

Kaiyou rose to her feet slowly, standing to face the two men. Her face betrayed her shock; it wasn't often that she met a man with blue skin, and the other man--looked almost exactly like Itachi, except for the deep-set eyes.

XxOOxX

Konoha had quite a lovely prison. This particular room looked almost as nice as a hotel room in a dingy section of town: Bars on the window, bedding that looked like a desert scene on a decently-sized Western-style bed, a curtained alcove that functioned as a privy. No glass, no coffee-machine, no refrigerator. The room contained just a bed, a barred window facing into the guards break-room, and a door leading to the other cells.

Yes, the Kazekage had been living quite in style in the few days since it was determined that he had unduly risked the alliance between Konoha and Sand, potentially throwing the continent into war, over a petty hatred. That time had come to a halt however, as no foreign diplomat could be incarcerated forever (certainly, he shouldn't have been at all).

Overall the Kazekage felt he could have been treated worse. At least he received good food, which was an improvement over the possibility of having been incarcerated in a hospital. He had not been tortured for information. No, he received many courtesies, including sake every evening.

It was the sake that did him in.

When Minato came to bring the ultimatum of resignation to the Kazekage he found the man already dead, the sake bottle shattered on the floor. On the ground, wrapped up in the bottle shards was a piece of fabric, hiding in a piece of shadow. It unraveled into a small swatch of fabric, black with a red shape going off on one side.

Minato cursed, having no clue as to what that piece of fabric might mean. Jiraiya, the one person he knew for sure would understand such a tiny clue, as the identity of the murderer, was not in Konoha. At least he had Kaiyou with him, away from a murderer, skilled enough to infiltrate the Konoha prison.

Shoving his thoughts aside, about the identity of the murderer, Minato signaled the guards, largely Uchihas, to search for clues. He'd just gotten through one part of the hassle left behind by the failed Chuunin exams, only to have it go up in smoke.

There was no need for a dead man to resign.

XxOOxX

The rookie genin of Konoha who had participated in the exams were all healthy, and only Lee still remained with medical conditions. The doctors had done all they could for him, and he had been released. That group of genin, all of Kaiyou's friends, as well as a slightly reluctant Neji (dragged by TenTen); were currently sitting in the arena. Repair work had not begun yet, so the destruction remained.

Hinata and Kiba sat together, Kiba for once not being loud and starting fights with Sasuke. Sasuke was frowning, showing his rare facial expression, and Shino sat beside him with hunched shoulders, another anomaly. Sakura and Ino were sitting as close to Sasuke as they could get, tossing a glare now and then, but uncharacteristically silent.

It was Neji, who had held a grudge against Kaiyou for so long who broke the silence. "I would not have wished to go against her in that state." Indeed, the damage before the genin was awesome, or so they thought. In truth it was far from spectacular enough to warrant an older shinobi's awe.

Shino nodded. "The amount of chakra she has is far too large for any of us to take on. My kikai noticed it in that state."

Kiba grinned shakily. " She was totally awesome! Man, if only I could do that much damage! I'd totally wipe the enemy out, I'd be famous!" Silence greeted his remark, and he reached out to pet Akamaru awkwardly, finding Hinata smiling softly at him.

"I had not imagined Kaiyou able to do so much," the shy girl said quietly. TenTen nodded fervently.

"She really shows all that a girl can do!" Lee, of course, had interject—"All that youth can do!"

TenTen, at a glance from Neji, reached over and covered his mouth. "No youth speeches, not now," she hissed at him.

The group was silent for a moment, except for a munching sound of Chouji eating chips. Sasuke scowled. "Tch. You're all making a big deal about it. The dobe is still a dobe."

Ino and Sakura shared a look with each other, and then looked away. Sakura spoke up, "No matter how much power she has, she's still not worthy of my Sasuke-kun!"

"Now wait a minute billboard-brow! Sasuke-kun already promised to marry me!"

"What! I don't believe that for one instant! Not when he's madly in love with me, Ino-pig!"

Sasuke groaned, and Shino reached a hand out. Both of the girls leaped back as bugs flew between them. "Yuck! Shino keep those things away from me," Ino complained.

Shikamaru turned to the others, abandoning his attitude of nonchalance. "To think we're here discussing whether we trust her, or fear her—and that was only a fraction of the Kyuubi's power."

Neji once more surveyed the arena, with its broken walls. "I would not wish to fight her, or to anger her."

Kaiyou's closest four friends glanced at Shikamaru. He had hurt the girl, more than any of the others had. If Kaiyou ever lost it, they would not want to be him. Shikamaru seemed oblivious to his observation, instead focused on the shadows dancing around Konoha, in a traditional search pattern. "What's going on, I wonder?" he mused.

Neji and Hinata turned their Byakugan eyes out into the night. "The Military Police," Hinata answered quietly. Neji nodded his agreement, adding that they were communicating on their walkies.

Sakura looked around her, as if searching for something. "Shouldn't they be guarding the prisoners to make sure they don't escape?"

Each of the group spared a moment of though, Shikamaru holding his hands in his accustomed 'thinking pose'. A voice none of them had expected answered, and each of the group turned to the newcomers, in slightly defensive postures.

Gaara stood before them, completely healed, with his brother and sister behind him. "There has been a death."

Temari grimaced, and turned her eyes away. "Kazekage-sama has been murdered," she muttered in an impersonal tone, as if she didn't acknowledge the man to be her father.

XxOOxX

A woman's voice, high and squealing, could be heard yelling from the hotel. "HENTAI! PERVERT! OUT OUT OUT! I'LL KILL YOU!"

(Two minutes before)

Kaiyou threw the manuscript down behind her, the pages flying loose of their order, the cover going right out of the window. She quickly positioned herself to fight. "I will not hand over that trash! I'm going to burn it!"

Kisame chuckled lightly. "Much as I would enjoy the new Icha Icha book, you're on my list of items to bring home, not a book." Now a girl who has been raised by perverts such as Kakashi and Jiraiya is not unaware of the meaning of that, or at least a meaning. So quite naturally she got angry with Kisame, as his partner looked on, not amused in the least.

(Now)

Her mouth was covered, muffling her yells of outrage. She hadn't even had a chance to stab the Itachi-look-alike with the kunai; he'd come upon her so fast. "Enough! We are not here for your amusement Kisame. We are here for the Kyuubi."

The muffled curses and yells out of outrage on Kaiyou's tongue failed. _Not for me? For the Kyuubi—then these men are worse than perverts!_ She couldn't think of any reason why men would want the Kyuubi, that wasn't sinister, and didn't involve her going with them. She definitely wasn't going with them.

Her teeth, sharpened from exposure to the feral chakra that dwelled within her, sank into the man's hand. He cursed and let go for just a second. Kaiyou immediately kicked him in the stomach, pivoting, and moved her hands to form a jutsu.

She froze as she found herself looking into Sharingan eyes. Her hands fell limply to her sides. "I--Itachi-san?"

Even as she shook herself out of it, she registered the attack of the blue-pervert-fishman. His huge bandaged stick swung at her and she jumped to dodge, and slipped on the sheets of paper spread about the room.

It was over—the sword was right in front of her, swinging down--

The sound of sandals, thak-thak-thak, could be heard, running. It was Jiraiya—his voice ringing out, calling Kaiyou's name

Kisame, lowered his sword for just a moment, and Kaiyou took the opportunity. She flung a kunai straight at the back of the man who had turned to face Jiraiya, the man with the Sharingan eyes.

He turned and deflected it with a short katana, yet the second grazed along his shoulder, having been at the wrong angle to deflect with the blade. Kisame immediately reassessed the situation and grabbed his partner. "Shisui let's go. We'll finish this another day. I don't want to fight a toad right now."

Jiraiya arrived, hands running through the appropriate signs, just a second too late, to do anything more than catch a glimpse of Kisame and Shisui. Moments later his attention to the battle was temporarily forgotten as he discovered the condition of his manuscript: very unorganized, but not burnt, or slimed, or ripped.


	18. Letters

Tsunade and Kaiyou had found themselves to be kindred spirits on the level of Anne and Diana

Tsunade and Kaiyou had found themselves to be kindred spirits on the level of Anne and Diana. And Jiraiya…was not part of the circle; to the contrary he was their scapegoat. He was already regretting this mission to find Tsunade and convince her to return to the village, in order to help young Lee. The two blonde females had only been in the same vicinity for two hours.

Their mission wasn't completed; Kaiyou had been distracted from begging by Tsunade's punching Jiraiya for leering at her. Kaiyou had promptly begun to cheer Tsunade on, telling her to beat up the old pervert, and had even gone so far as to ask for lessons. Now all Jiraiya wanted was to get the two women away from each other, and go actually relax in a bath. His bruises hurt, and he was no healer!

Jiraiya trudged off leaving Kaiyou to deal with the woman herself. That was part of why Kaiyou had been sent: to keep her out of the village for a time to allow others' to deal with the news on her status as a Jinchuuriki, and to let her bring some light to Tsunade. Even Jiraiya, that perverted man who tried to act like a child and show no consideration for females, understood that he could offer nothing to the heartbroken Tsunade. He headed towards the hotel Tsunade had a room in, to get himself and Kaiyou a place to stay, and to find the baths…

XxOOxX

Shizune and the faithful pig were surprised to see Tsunade with a small grin upon her face, without sake in hand. They were equally surprised to see a small blonde girl-child standing with the older woman. Walking up she caught snippets of the conversation, mostly from the girl, who seemed to be loudmouthed.

"C'mon you can teach me! I wanna punch the perverts like that too…"

Tsunade shook her head and spoke again.

"…too control it! I'm not that bad…."

Standing closer now Shizune was able to catch Tsunade's words as well: "My techniques are not just to punch Jiraiya."

"Of course I know that! There is also that Kisame-pervert, and lots of people to protect! From perverts and from enemies! Well, perverts ARE enemies, but not quite the same way, you know?"

Tsunade looked thoughtful for a moment, before turning to Shizune. "You've been listening. What do you think, should I teach her?"

Shizune turned and appraised the small-statured girl; her hair was still wild, she looked like a brawler, and Kaiyou looked too small to handle the jutsus. How could such a tiny girl dish so much power out with one blow? Tsunade was a much larger woman. The pig-loving apprentice turned to her mistress and shook her head. "I believe her frame is too small. Perhaps the healing techniques would suit her better, if you wish to teach her."

Tsunade nodded, and began to speak only to be interrupted by the loudmouthed girl. "Healing, why is it always healing? I've learned all I can there--I'm no good! Besides! What has size got to do with anything! I'm a lot more powerful than I look! I'm even learning the Rasengan!"

Tsunade and Shizune both felt their ears almost perk up, dog-like, at that statement. The girl was still so small, and yet she was learning the Rasengan? Tsunade felt her cheer fall, at the idea of such a small creature wielding so much power. Children shouldn't get involved with fights requiring the Rasengan, they shouldn't…. "It will take you long enough to master that technique, that your size now won't matter. It took Jiraiya months to learn it!"

Kaiyou glared at the woman who had formerly been her new-best-friend. "I can do! I…I bet I can learn it in a week! HA! Yeah, that's right! I bet I can learn the Rasengan in a week, and when I do you have to…you have to teach me how to use your strength-technique thingies! AND come back to Konoha to heal my friend!"

"What two things to your one?"

Kaiyou glared, standing proudly. "Yeah, what of it Old Hag? It's going to take me years right? Scared of a little girl too small to do anything?!"

That was it, Tsunade's temper was blown, and her interest in the bet was peaked. "Deal! You're on gaki! But only five days. If you can learn the Rasengan, completely, in that time I'll teach you and I'll come back to Konoha and fix your dumb friend!"

Kaiyou grinned hugely, and Tsunade suddenly felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. Shizune, too, looked worried. The Legendary Sucker had just made a bet with a mere slip of a girl. She couldn't lose even to a child could she? "Thanks! I'll go practice now…" Kaiyou began to run off and then turned around and stuck out her tongue.

"The name is Kaiyou! And I'm going to be your new student, starting in five days! Remember it!" She then turned and ran off, abandoning Jiraiya to be alone in the hotel with the larger, stronger woman.

Shizune turned and looked at the slightly confused Tsunade. "Kaiyou? As in…"

"Yeah, Minato's daughter. Namikaze Kaiyou."

Shizune felt her stomach drop a little bit more. That tiny girl was the Hokage's daughter, and a Jinchuuriki. That tiny girl was the daughter of a woman who had very good luck. Luck didn't run in families did it?

XxOOxX

Konoha was all in a whirl, with nobody knowing quite what to do in the situation. Minato had consulted with his counsel, wishing fervently that Sarutobi were there to advise him. Surely the old man would have had some advice with how to deal with the situation. A kage murdered in their jail cells, the culprit unknown and at large, the spymaster out on another important mission already.

The Sand siblings, the three children of the murdered man, were each dealing with it quite well. None of them had been overly close to their father, who treated them with aloofness, almost as if they were mere chattel. The problem was not what the siblings thought, but what the rest of Sand would think: would this become an issue over which war would take place?

The counsel had proposed a plan, one that was quite devious, but one that Minato could not agree with, on moral grounds and on the grounds of his daughter's request. Say that the kage attempted to quell his son's wrath and was murdered by his own son. The boy was unstable; surely such an occurrence would not cause undue harm. The counsel argued that accusing the boy of such, and of his subsequent execution, would actually do good. Minato disagreed; the real criminals were loose.

Thinking about his conundrum Minato rubbed his temples, wishing for a simple solution. There seemed to be none. Claim that they were unable to protect a prisoner, or that an innocent was guilty: which was the better course of action?

As he sat there thinking a knock resounded on his office door. Lifting his head off of his desk, and out of his hands Minato called out for the visitor to enter. The Kage of Rain walked into the office, nodded and took a seat. "My group is ready to return. What shall we officially say? Only the counsels of our two nations know that the kazekage survived the chuunin exams. We can say that he died then, and few will be the wiser."

Minato shook his head, disagreeing. "It will get out; things like this always do. Secrets aren't secrets, not around shinobi. We need some way that is honest, without starting a war."

Both Kage's sat quiet for a moment. "Then we change the events from a random murderer, into a known situation, that all can agree the kazekage should die during."

Minato looked sharply at his peer. "I suppose discounting the unknown assassin is not unwise. Causing undue fear could be problematic…even if it is not the moral action." The man sighed, running a hand through his blonde hair once more. Wearily he reached out and grabbed two sheets of paper, putting one aside for a moment.

On that note he scribbled out his decision: _When given announcement of his imposed resignation, due to his threatening the alliance between Sand and Konoha and creating a situation where was possible, the Kazekage reacted with violence. His actions and speech were obsessed and insane. In the course of defending Konoha from him he suddenly fell, and clutched his head. He was dead within moments. Our medical team has been examining him, and has found anomalies within his body. Due to a medical condition, Konoha will hold no revenge against Sand._

Glancing up at the kage of Rain he nodded. "Give this to your council. That will be the official statement. It should avoid war with Rain, and since we have Tsunade in our village, all will believe our medical staff's 'decision'."

The other kage stood up, and left the room, leaving Minato to reach his hand for the other sheet of paper, feeling mildly sick over lying about the assassin. He had to know who that assassin was, and Jiraiya was his only hope. Jiraiya would at least keep his eyes out for an assassin in black with red clouds. His hand picked up the pen once again and poised to write the heading.

XxOOxX

Two days had already passed. Kaiyou had passed the first of those days with balloons and balls at her feet, filling them with chakra and practicing her new move, well, soon-to-be new move. The second day she had begun attempting to form the chakra without the balloons or balls. She had completely failed, and had instead not slept, continuing on practicing all night.

The third day had dawned with a small divot in a tree, a bare marker of her improvement. She could not hold the chakra once it hit an object. Suddenly having that object clashing with her chakra was like taking the jutsu up whole notches in skill requirements. Take her spinning, and shaping the chakra into a ball, and then add exploding the tree with too much chakra as she climbed it, and add it all together. The resistance the tree offered, though mild, was enough to tarnish the shape of her chakra from a perfect sphere into slightly oblong.

Kaiyou kept pushing herself, ignoring the weariness she began to feel in her limbs. She only had two and a half more days to master this jutsu. To master the jutsu for Lee, and for an awesome technique set.

XxOOxX

Jiraiya was surprised when the small Gamakichi woke him up from where he was lying with his manuscript around him. He blinked open his eyes and looked up at the frog-shaped blur, then held his head. He'd have to see Tsunade about her hangover-remedy later.

"Whad'dya want," he slurred out, in his dry-mouthed, morning voice.

"Geesh, ero-sennin! It's almost noon and you're still drunk! What'll Pops say?"

Jiraiya gave the young summon a look, and Gamakichi promptly decided to be a little more respectful. "Kaiyou's Pop asked me to bring you this. Is she around?"

Jiraiya almost shook his head, before he recalled his hangover, and then replied that she was training somewhere, something about winning a bet. Gamakichi looked disappointed for a second, before shrugging his 'shoulders' and grinning. "Anyways, just call for me when you wanna reply! I'm gonna go look for some candy…"

The little summons poofed away, leaving Jiraiya to conk out again and ignore the letter.

XxOOxX

Tsunade found Jiraiya, still unconscious, two hours later, and kicked him lightly in the toes. No point punching a man into oblivion, when he was already there. As her former teammate groaned into awareness Tsunade noticed the letter lying atop the manuscript (which had frog-prints on several of the sheets). Seeing Minato's scrawl across the front she turned to Jiraiya, "What's this?"

"Huh?" Then his eyes widened and he cursed. "I should have opened that hours ago." Swiftly, hangover completely forgotten, he reached his hands out and snagged the envelope from the woman, and ripped it open hastily. A piece of fabric, black with a red splotch on one corner, quite like a cloud, fell upon his lap.

Suddenly Jiraiya felt apprehensive, for more than his own life after having delayed greatly upon reading the letter. His eyes skimmed the letter quickly.

_Sensei,_

_The Kazekage has been assassinated in our very cells. Poisoned sake. We had just gotten the approval from Rain to back us, in demanding his resignation too, dammit! There was no trace of the assassin that we could find anywhere in the village, but this one shred of cloth. Does it mean anything to you? I want this murderer caught—the world won't even know he's on the loose, the way I've had to arrange things. _

_Minato_

_P.S. How is my darling daughter? Is she doing okay? Happy? She isn't bothered that her friends know she's a Jinchuuriki, is she? They're dealing with the information well, I'm told from Kakashi, but reassure her will you? Thanks Sensei! _

Jiraiya ignored the typical rant about Kaiyou on the bottom. The girl was doing fine, for the most part. Her slight oddness had evaporated quickly after the attack upon her, and especially upon meeting Tsunade. At least he thought so—he hadn't seen the girl much since she'd met Tsunade

What he did pay attention to was his memory of charging into the room only to see two men fleeing the room, and his precious manuscript all over the floor. Those men had been wearing black and red.

He needed to talk to the girl. He'd only briefly paid attention to the men, and had spent the next day of travel showing her the basics of the Rasengan, and putting his precious manuscript back into order.

Crap! Why hadn't he thought about asking her earlier? Jumping up, leaving the letter for Tsunade to look at, and completely ignoring her otherwise, he ran towards where he knew the young Jincuuriki was training. Now that he thought about the attackers, who as far as he had paid any attention to at the time were perverts and ninjas…he had a very bad feeling about the situation.

How could he not have noticed it before?

XxOOxX

An hour later Jiraiya trudged back to the hotel slowly, wanting to kill himself. His fears had been well founded, and far too late in plaguing him. _Akatsuki._ They weren't just a rumor. There was a group of assassins in black coats with clouds of red upon them. And that had targeted Kaiyou for the Kyuubi.

That left the question: Why did Akatsuki want the Kazekage dead? Could it have anything to do with Gaara, the host of the Ichibi?

His mind puzzling over these facts, and knowing without doubt that he needed more information, Jiraiya set about figuring out how he would break the news to Minato. He needed more information, but he also needed to get the news out fast—Kaiyou was being targeted, and the assassins were no joke.

Worse, an Uchiha was among them…Shisui. The Uchiha that disappeared, and was presumed dead. An Uchiha was in the Akatsuki, and knew some of Konoha's secrets. That was presumably how the Military Prison had been broken into—an Uchiha, one of the prison guard family, had broke into the jail, and murdered a kage. Scarier, he could have told any of his comrades how to do it: all of Akatsuki could potentially break into the prison and Konoha as a whole.

The village was not secure.

XxOOxX

Kaiyou trudged back to the hotel, from her ramen lunch with Jiraiya. He had pestered her quite a lot, for the first time, about the pervert who had attacked her and the Itachi-look-alike enemy. Now that she had food in her stomach, she'd get a little rest. Then she'd blow the rest of the five days on non-stop practice! That was her plan.

She didn't plan to sleep for long, just long enough to rejuvenate her, so she didn't have to worry about chakra exhaustion. Despite her plan, when she awoke it was halfway through the next day.

Barely pausing for anything to eat, she dashed out to practice her jutsu. She was so close to making the Rasengan she could feel it! Just a little more, a little more time and she would have perfected the move to a functional level!

XxOOxX

Minato took the letter greedily from Gamakichi, letting the young toad steal some candies from his desk (kept for that specific purpose of course, it wasn't manly to have a whole drawer full of sweets) and opened it up. The letter sobered him up quite quickly, for it wasn't about his daughter, but actually news. Minato did not like the news, not at all: it was very, very bad as far as he was concerned. And as far as the world should be concerned.

_**Gaki,**_

_**I like writing things very different than this letter. Kaiyou was attacked by two men I perceived to be perverts (as she was heard yelling all around the village that they were perverts) and I arrived to defend her in time to see them off. They wore a cloak of black and with red clouds. Later I spoke to her and discovered the names of those who she had fought: Kisame and Shisui. You should recognize both names. **_

_**The rumors I've heard are, apparently true. There is an organization called Akatsuki on the loose, made of high class missing nins. They seem to be after your daughter, and other Jinchuurikis. Konoha is not safe, not if Shisui is with them. **_

_**Kaiyou is sure the man with the Sharingan eyes was called Shisui. That should explain much about the attack within the prison. **_

_**Jiraiya. **_

_**And yeah, the brats fine. Got herself in a bet with Tsunade even. **_

Minato closed his eyes, his mouth drawing a firm line, then stood up and walked to his door. "Bring me Raven," he yelled out. "I have an errand for him."

A/N:

Sorry, AGAIN, for a chapter that is not on my old schedule of about twice a week…it makes me sad to not update as much. I can't even, honestly, say that it is only classes holding me back. I keep getting my mind caught up in other stories, oh, and in music. There was a great concert at my school last night, NIAYH. Anyways, my apologies, and I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Next chapter will involve the end of the bet, and…you'll have to wait and see! ;P

Simplice


	19. Homecoming

The five days of the bed were over, consumed eating ramen, with nonstop practice, and with letters galore; and now, with the ti

The five days of the bed were over, consumed eating ramen, with nonstop practice, and with letters galore; and now, with the time gone, with an audience, Kaiyou was unconscious, instead of performing the Rasengan. The girl could be seen in the middle of the clearing where she had been practicing, if the holes in the trees were to be trusted. The girl lay there completely oblivious, a smile upon her face, as her time ticked away to prove that she had completed the jutsu. That fact barely bothered Tsunade at all.

Tsunade had seriously begun to reconsider the wisdom of her bet. She knew that she was usually, frequently, often, incorrect about her bets. Yet even if she decided to bet against her instinct she was wrong…it was a bad omen for her bets to be accurate… Tsunade couldn't quite decide whether or not she wanted Kaiyou to win the bet, so if the girl slept through the time neither of them would win, by default.

Jiraiya, on the other hand, wanted his granddaughter to win the bet, but knew better than to wake her up. He always received the most horrendous screams in his ears and pranks later. His best bet was to cause something else to wake the girl up…

The situation and mood, there in the forest clearing where Kaiyou had practiced for the past days, was oddly tense with indecisiveness.

XxOOxX

Itachi had been running for the past three hours and decided to take a break; it was not a life or death situation that he was on his way to, a break would be just fine. A ninja should never be so tired that he or she is too exhausted to fight a battle. He normally was very careful to follow the rules.

This mission he wasn't particularly thrilled with the rules, with what he was to do. It was necessary; he knew it was necessary what he now journeyed to accomplish. That didn't mean that he liked the mission, or knew why it had been given to him instead of all others. The hokage trusted him yes; yes he was an ANBU captain. Neither of those equated why it had to be him to accomplish this mission.

Slipping a piece of bittersweet chocolate pocky into his mouth, Itachi mused about his mission with a dark visage. He would have preferred a simple assassination mission. He wasn't that lucky though, not this time.

This time his journey was to continue as soon as he'd munched on his all-essential pocky.

XxOOxX

Kaiyou had been awoken by little Gamakichi sitting on her head. She wasn't quite sure why his mouth was taped shut, and so turned inquiring eyes upon Jiraiya and Tsunade.

"What did you do to him…oh !! Wait, what time is it? Am I too late?"

Poor Gamakichi was completely forgotten, as Kaiyou remembered her bet with Tsunade, and jumped up, distributing the poor creature on the ground unceremoniously.

Tsunade and Jiraiya shared a look, and then Jiraiya nodded. "It was lucky that Gamakichi woke you up. We were just about to decide you'd fail—"

Kaiyou interjected vehemently. "NO WAY! I do not FAIL! I can do it. Just watch! So much for your dumb years, I can do this NOW!"

Tsunade repressed a chuckle at the knuckle-headed blonde. She really fell for that easily. Still Tsunade felt uneasy about the situation. The girl couldn't really do it could she? Curse her tendency for getting into bets she'd lose!

"Watch me! C'mon watch!"

And sure enough Kaiyou held her right hand out, and stared at it, keeping very still. She was almost glaring at her. A blue wisp began to gather on her palm, and then quickly more, forming a spinning sphere, that grew into the size of a tennis ball.

The girl ran forward and thrust her palm into a thick tree. Dust flew away from her, clouding the air. When Tsunade and Jiraiya were able to see through her accidentally created anti-smoke-bomb the tree was in splinters. The front looked like it had been drilled into. Then the tree tottered for a moment as they stood their staring at it. Kaiyou had nearly blasted through the whole thing.

"Not bad gaki, but it's still not full-strength yet," Jiraiya teased.

"WHAT! I put so much work into it! C'mon! I can do it! It's complete! Old hag I did it! Now teach me!"

Tsunade looked between the old pervert and the brat. "I think I'll have to talk to Shizune. I mean, it will take time away from her training if I concede this to be…acceptable. You certainly didn't master the technique but… hmm…"

"AWW come on! You know I did good! I won! So there! Don't you go saying you have to ask Shizune! You already agreed! AND you admitted that I did good enough so HA! You have to teach me!"

Tsunade just grinned at her young pupil. Kaiyou however, got distracted again, as the frog bumped against her leg! "OH! Why are you all taped up? Here let me get that for you…"

Jiraiya was just sneaking away when a familiar chakra signal caught his attention.

XxOOxX

Shisui and Kisame were not in the most jovial of moods. They were standing in front of the cloaked and shadowed leader, giving a report. Kisame's reputation wasn't faring well, he had after all, acted as if it were his intention to molest the girl. He had joked around on duty.

"You will do better next time," the leader was saying. "Do not clown around. The target may be a female but that does not mean she is any less dangerous. She is the Nine-tailed Jinchuuriki, the strongest of all our targets. The information you collected on her is interesting however. Despite any skills she is still just a child."

The leader turned his eyes toward Zetsu. "Keep tabs on her but do not engage. She is not so skilled that we need to worry. Other targets, and consolidating our power come first. We've had our check—despite wounding Shisui she is not a threat to us yet." The leader turned his eyes, those white luminous bulbs in the gloom, upon Shisui. "You should have been more careful."

And the members of Akatsuki continued to meet in private. Their names and faces were unknown to the world; only Shisui and Kisame were known agents. At least, they were the only faces to those known to non-sympathizers. Akatsuki was at large, and they had a whole new picture of the future.

XxOOxX

Itachi had finally found his target, and dropped down out of the trees, only to see that his target was waiting for him. He calmly landed, without a battle position, just with a solid landing for his feet.

"Hello Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama," he said politely. Only then did Itachi turn his gaze upon his brother's friend and the small frog, with—was that duct tape over his mouth? —Who also were present. "Kaiyou, and uhm…"

Kaiyou smiled, her loudness of moments before forgotten. "This is Gamakichi." She carefully ripped the duct tape off of his mouth and reached into her pocket for a candy. It was taken with gusto.

Itachi nodded his head with a slightly warm look lighting up his eyes. "The pleasure is mine Gamakichi." Busy munching his candy, the little guy didn't bother looking up, or doing anything more than waving a webbed food at the man.

Jiraiya took control of the situation, Tsunade standing at his side, glaring at him for being slightly out of the loop. "Itachi is there a message from Minato?"

Itachi nodded. "I carry a message that Hokage-sama did not want to leave to a written message, concerning your travels."

Kaiyou blinked. Sometimes the Uchiha brothers seemed very weird to her, despite Sasuke being her friend. Why were they so formal with her father? Surely they'd realized by now, having known her, that formality really wasn't an issue.

Tsunade turned to Jiraiya. "You've been communicating with Minato. Why would he now send Itachi with a message? Is it that serious?"

Kaiyou blinked. Serious? "Hey, what's going on? You didn't tell me…" she remembered that Itachi was still there, and quieted down some. "You didn't tell me you'd been communicating with Daddy."

The pervert looked at his granddaughter. "Yeah, it's serious, but you were busy training for your bet!" Kaiyou grinned, remembering that she'd won, and learned a new awesome jutsu! She was closer than ever to being able to protect her loved ones, and Tsunade was going to help her get stronger now, too! "Anyways, Gaki, it's about those men who attacked you."

Kaiyou nodded. "Oh, those pervs. OH hey, Itachi, one of them looked so much like you! He had the same eyes and everything, all except well…" She didn't know quite how to explain that there was something different in the face. It just somehow wasn't something that she could say. "He wasn't you though! I knew that, it was just weird!"

Only as she spoke did she even consider why the man looked like Itachi and not Sasuke. The brothers looked a great deal alike—why had she compared the man to Itachi rather than Sasuke, whom she knew better?

Itachi looked startled at the news, and his face settled into a grim line. "So one of them men that killed the Kazekage looks like me?"

Kaiyou was very abruptly pulled out of her meandering mind. "WAH! Killed the kazekage! THOSE guys? I thought they were just pervs who …" her voice dropped, "Pervs who wanted Kyuubi…."

The three adults looked at the girl. She seemed shaken that she had faced killers and not even realized it. Jiraiya looked over at Itachi, as Tsunade rested her arm on the girls' shoulders. "So what is the message?"

Itachi looked at the girl as he answered, without meeting anyone's eyes. "Kaiyou is not to return to Konoha."

XxOOxX

Minato looked woefully at the immense stack of paperwork before him. He already had two clones to assist him, as well as secretaries, but the work just kept building up. First there had been the chuunin exams, then there had been the whole Kazekage-purposely-sicking-his-Jinchuuriki-son-on-Konoha incident, and then there had been the assassination of the Kazekage…. There was just so much work that built up. What made it so much worse for him this time was that he knew his daughter was in danger.

The assassins that had murdered the Kazekage were after his daughter. Jiraiya would be her only protection, since the village was no longer a safe place for the girl. She needed training if she were to protect herself from an organization that could take down a kage, without being detected by him, within a mile of him….

His little girl was in danger, and he could not be there for her the whole time she was in a village. He could not send somebody after her on missions to protect her. Jiraiya was her best bet.

Suddenly Minato crushed a fistful of papers. If that pervert of a sensei did anything to corrupt his daughter…. The paper wished it could scream.

XxOOxX

Kaiyou fell onto her butt. _…not return to Konoha…not return…don't go home. I can't go home. Why? Daddy, why? Why can't I go home? Is it because of Kyuubi? Why? I learned the Rasengan, I'm doing good! My friends… I can't leave my friends. I have to protect my friends, how can I do that if I can't go back to Konoha?_

Forcefully the girl shoved the insecure thoughts away, and once against let out her loud side. "WHAT! Of course I'm going back to Konoha! How dare you say I can't! I even won a bet and got the old ha—" A hand slammed over Kaiyou's mouth, as Tsunade stopped the girl.

Itachi looked at the girl and felt a twinge of pain for her. "The village has been compromised, and the group is after your life. Your father wants you trained by Jiraiya to protect yourself."

Kaiyou looked between the group, then stood up, a firm expression on her face, and began to walk off. "I want ramen."

Jiraiya chuckled lightly at the girl. Both Tsunade and Itachi turned to him, questioningly. "She'll listen to reason only after she's eaten ramen. She's like her father that way. Come on, let's go. Otherwise she'll run up a huge bill."

XxOOxX

Dinner had changed nothing. The logic remained, and Kaiyou, even she, couldn't disobey her father. She had no choice but to stay away from the village, to train with ero-sennin. That night she sat on her futon in the hotel room, with a small light glowing, and a pen in her hand. There were five sheets of paper in front of her. Letters.

Kaiyou was now yelling at herself for leaving Konoha without a goodbye to many of her friends. Lee and Gaara had known that she was leaving the village, and the others had surely gotten the news, but she hadn't had a real goodbye with any of them. She hadn't known that she wouldn't return within two weeks.

One letter was a general note to many of her friends: Lee, Sakura, TenTen, and even the stoic Neji, Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru. Only her teammates and her childhood friends who had stood by her, through thick and thin received a personal letter. Those were the friends that she felt the most sorrow for having left unannounced.

The letters were mostly short, mostly one-liners saying that eventually she would come back, kick butt, and they had better be prepared to lose to her because she was going to be a completely awesome ninja. She had thank-yous and boasts. The letters were hardly sentimental things; Kaiyou wasn't really a girly-girl, but much more of a girl who chose to rarely acknowledge emotion.

Halfway through the last letter, the one to the whole group, Kaiyou jumped up, dropped her pen and ran out of the room. **Pound Pound.** The door opened, and Kaiyou grinned.

"Tsunade I'm going to discharge you of part of your debt—you don't have to teach me, you have to teach my friends!"

The woman blinked. "Huh?" It seemed that Tsunade had been sleeping off too much sake, which she consumed at dinner. Itachi had ignored the drink, and so the younger two had gotten to watch the old coots get drunk, and violent with each other, at dinner earlier.

"You have to train my friends! In medical jutsu or your strength, whatever they want!" The woman blinked, and held her head, as Kaiyou swayed in front of her face.

"Sure, sure go away, whatever. Ugh, I should just take something for this hangover," Tsunade moaned, and Kaiyou had to laugh. Really it was much easier for a medic to treat somebody else's hangover…they lost all control of their skills.

Kaiyou ran back to her room happily and added a last sentence or two onto her letter to the group.

I talked tsunade into giving you lessons: super-strength or medic, whatever you want. She was drunk when she promised, but make her do it anyways. She did promise!

Grabbing all of the letters she walked outside, in her baggy pajama shorts and orange tank. Padding down the hall on silent feet she walked up to the room Itachi had rented for the night: he would return in the morning. She quietly rapped her knuckles on the door, then slipped in when he opened the door.

The man looked surprised for a moment, until she held out the letters. "Would you mind taking these back for me? I didn't say goodbyes, not really."

Itachi looked at the girl, mildly surprised at how quiet and, almost sweet, she was being. Normally he saw her quiet, but knew it wasn't who she really was. This however, was sincere. He wondered how many people knew about this part of Kaiyou: that at times she could actually not be the loudmouthed idiot that so many knew her as.

He reached his hand out and took the letters. "I'll see to it that the Uke gets his shall I?" Itachi was rewarded with a grin spreading across the girl's face.

"Yeah! Him and all the others--can't let them miss me too much!" Her eyes fell down again for a second. Despite the explanations it still felt a little like she was being kicked out.

Itachi turned his back to her and slipped the letters into his weapons pouch, which lay on the floor next to his own futon. "It's not like you'll be without contact. Your father has assigned me to check-in on your progress during your training. I am willing to deliver messages. Plus you have Gamakichi?"

Kaiyou grinned. "Un! Yeah, I guess you're right. Oh! And don't let Tsunade wiggle out of helping Lee! Or teaching my friends! She lost the bet fair and square."

Slipping out of Itachi's room Kaiyou ran off to her own bed. Tomorrow would be the goodbyes, and then…three years with ero-sennin. Oh, life was going to be f-u-n.


	20. The Prodigal Returns

The Prodigal Returns

A/N: My sincerest apologies for my extraordinarily late update! It just so happens that I was about to update…when my roommate got me hooked on One Piece. I watched oh…almost two hundred episodes in as many weeks. I only stopped because I have some big papers to do, and finals pretty soon. I am updating now, and hopefully again before the start of December. If you bug me after that, I'll try to have another chapter up on the 11th of December, the day after finals finish.

Please note, once again as I start into what would be known as "Shippuden" in the canon, that I am not the owner of Naruto, or any of its characters, or universe. I am merely a woman obsessed with stories, sending her fingers flying over a keyboard in a desperate attempt to get my ideas documented, instead of driving me insane with daydreams that I can never recount.

XxOOxX

Wow, I haven't used any unfamiliar words lately so here we go:

Chichi: means father, is informal, and only used to address your own father, not your friends, your cousins, or your neighbors fathers.

Himitsu: means secret.

XxOOxX

The Konohmaru Corps. had become infamous throughout Konoha for their lively pranks, and annoying behaviors. The three young genin, were however quite skilled for having just graduated the Academy. Their pranks had not toned down at all since graduation, indicating that the 'missions' did not wear them out of their exuberant energy. Currently, thanks to their ministration the guards weren't watching the road, but rather watching jounins launching across the roofs chasing after the trio.

Thanks to their inattention to the road, the guards (whose faces were quite well-recognized around the village) did not pay heed to the two figures approaching the village. Thus they were surprised when they felt a finger on each of their shoulders.

Both chuunins whirled around quickly, hands immediately reaching into their weapons pouches, only to hear a deep chuckle, and a female's riotous laughter. They blinked, and then felt their jaws dropping. Had the time already come for the Hokage's daughter and Jiraiya-sama to return?

For there, standing before them was a girl with merry ocean blue eyes, and the old oil-faced frog-sannin. Jiraiya looked the same as ever, and Kaiyou didn't look very much different from before, in some ways.

Kaiyou stood there, laughing, and clutching her belly. Clearly she still had the same sense of humor. Her front was no longer completely flat, however, and her clothing choices had changed in the years she was gone. Gone was the orange vest. In fact, from their vantage the chuunin guards couldn't see a single spot of orange on her clothing. In fact her clothing was in quite standard colors: green and black.

Before them stood the Hokage's daughter, almost looking like a normal ninja, straightening herself from her laughter, and grinning at them. As she stood up, their jaws shot right back up to their faces: no way would they be caught staring at the Hokage's daughter, not like this.

The green jacket, that reached her hips, which she was wearing, its sleeves finishing in cuffs just above her elbows, was unzipped until the jacket reached her waist. Underneath it looked like the girl was just wearing a thin white undershirt. Her pants were tightly fitting: the chuunin weren't sure that the overprotective father was going to like his daughter's new wardrobe.

In short Kaiyou had merely changed her wardrobe and developed normally. Yet there standing before them was a beautiful, petite girl who could not be mistaken for a child any longer. She grinned at them, that same wide mischievous grin, "What? No greeting?" She laughed once again. "I'll come visit later! But first---Ramen!"

As the two stood there, and called out their rather belated greeting Jiraiya hit the red-streaked blonde on the head. "Are you really going to go to Ichiraku's without visiting your father first?"

The girl looked up at him. "Isn't he going to meet us there?"

The two chuunin watched the Sannin and the Jinchuuriki walk into the village, clearly headed for Ichiraku's. Both men noticed the back of Kaiyou's green jacket and it's flamboyant orange design: Nine tails of flame rising up to devour the swirl design.

Nobody could mistake Kaiyou's identity—flame reminiscent of her Father's famous cloak, the nine tails, and the Konoha swirl—if they just saw her jacket. Kaiyou had declared her identity to the world. In orange.

XxOOxX

Minato shooed the ANBU agent who had just delivered a message to him away, with joy. He quickly looked left and right, and then made a kage bunshin of himself, before dashing out of his office. Let the bunshin do the work: he was going to meet his baby girl and eat ramen. What could be better after two years, eleven months and twenty-seven days of not seeing Kaiyou?

His daughter was already ordering herself four bowls of miso ramen when he arrived. Jiraiya was childishly glaring at the still-small girl. Not giving Kaiyou a chance to protest Minato reached out and hugged the girl with a goofy grin on his face.

"Order all the ramen you can eat! It's a celebration tonight!" Depositing the red-faced blonde on a stool he turned to his former-sensei. "You too! Sake and ramen on me!"

"Chichi! It's only lunchtime, though! You can't let this old perv get drunk so soon—the bathhouses are still open!" Jiraiya paled, instantly, as soon as those words were out of her mouth.

As Jiraiya predicted the enraged father turned to him. "I've only just seen my daughter and she already tells me that you get drunk in the middle of the day and spy on women! In front of my daughter…Kami no! You didn't spy on her did you! That's it I'll kill you!"

Jiraiya shot his latest student a pleading look: let me off the hook! Kaiyou just shrugged and starting slurping down her first bowl of ramen. She'd let him fend for himself until her first bowl was done. Then she'd deal with Jiraiya, after all, it wouldn't do to have her grandfather castrated for something he hadn't done too often.

XxOOxX

The news was swiftly traveling throughout Konoha: Kaiyou and Jiraiya were back. Konohamaru was the first to receive the news, after his team's exploits around Konoha. He signaled to his team with a grin: their long-awaited prank was about to begin! Preparations had been complete for some time.

Sneaking up towards Ichiraku's he pulled the carefully concealed, and protected, string and flung the stink bomb at the older girl. He discovered it hurtling back towards himself, and with a yelp he and Moegi jumped away from the missile, Udon already safely away.

Kaiyou didn't even look up, but focused on the two squabbling men. "Daddy, you should really focus on your ramen. It's cold!" Immediately Minato reached for the ramen, leaving his argument with Jiraiya for another time. Sometimes Minato was simple-minded (but then, Kaiyou could be too).

Only then did she stand up and turn to glare at her little-brother figure. "Did you really think a stink bomb would work on me, The Great Namikaze Kaiyou? I am centuries ahead of such foolish pranks!"

Konohamaru pouted. "But…you didn't even look! How did you do that?"

Kaiyou grinned. "Hi-mi-tsu," she drawled out slowly. "Don't worry. You'll learn when you're an old man," she teased. "You just aren't original enough yet."

Konohamaru grinned, "Oh yeah? Well how about THIS? Sexy no Jutsu!" With a poof a cloud of smoke enveloped Konohamaru, before he appeared in front of Kaiyou as a barely-clad female. Her face slipped from teasing, to smirking.

"I'd run if I were you," she whispered. Jiraiya was drooling over poor Konohamaru and reaching his hands out, as if following a mirage, desperate for water, in the desert. The boy quickly realized his mistake and ran, being followed.

Jiraiya wasn't an easy pervert to knock out using the sexy technique. Turning, chuckling as the Konohamaru Ninja Squad ran away, she sat next to her father once more and resumed eating her ramen.

Noticing her father's bugged eyes she grinned. "Maybe Konohamaru is more creative than I thought. Then again he modified my jutsu…"

"You're what?" Minato yelped, assuming the 'sexy' had been his own daughter's creation.

XxOOxX

Due to the hour, her father had been hauled back to work, leaving the kunoichi to her own devices for the afternoon. Where else would a train-a-holic, ramen-a-holic, go but to the training fields? Walking along Kaiyou gawked at the almost-nonexistent changes that had occurred in Konoha throughout her leave of absence.

She paid so little attention to what was direction in front of her, that despite her status as a ninja, she walked right into a man four or five inches taller than her, and barely caught herself before falling on her butt. Looking up she saw the silhouette of pineapple-shaped hair, blinked, still saw pineapple-shaped hair and grinned.

"Shikamaru! Whoa! Cool vest! You're a chuunin now?"

Said boy looked at the girl and nodded slowly. "Yeah. Moms keeps bugging me to take the jounin exams though…" Kaiyou grinned, already knowing the answer, and shook her head.

"Still the same old lazy bum."

Shikamaru glanced at the girl, noting that she seemed more intelligent than she used to be, but said nothing, as a hand clapped down on his shoulder, making him wince. "I know you think that team meetings are troublesome, but at least be on time so that they get over with sooner," a shrill voice demanded. "Huh, who's the kid," Ino asked looking at Kaiyou.

Kaiyou scowled. "What the pig calling me short now?"

"Pig, how did you know that nam—" Ino looked at the girl, and looked again, then smiled. "Kaiyou! Geesh, I thought you were some academy student; you're still so short! When did you get back? Oh, come on, you have to come see Chouji and Asuma: they're at the BBQ where we were supposed to be meeting right now…"

Kaiyou was grabbed by the arm, along with Shikamaru, and towed towards the restaurant. "Gentle Ino! I just got back today. How's you're training going---oh! Did you get that old hag to train you?"

Ino nodded enthusiastically. "Nah! The other girls are though: Hinata and Sakura. Man Sakura's got one wicked punch these days. It's too dangerous to fight with that Billboard-brow over Sasuke…not, that we fight anymore of course. We're much too mature for that."

Unknown to Ino, Shikamaru was rolling his eyes. Kaiyou, on the other hand, thought that the two friends were doing great to not be fighting! "How is the Uke anyways? Still complaining that they won't let him join ANBU yet?"

Ino chuckled. "Yeah, the Hokage says that he's got to wait another year or so before he can join ANBU. I think it's good: more time to spend with me. OH! Here we are. Chouji! Chouji! Look who's back," Ino called out loudly, attracting the attention of everyone in the street toward the purple-girl hauling a reluctant chuunin and a known-Jinchuuriki behind her like shopping bags.

Chouji looked up and grinned, and Kaiyou's jaw dropped. The boy had really shot up since she'd last seen him. He towered over her now, and clearly showed that his portliness was not just fat but was also muscle. The quiet food-loving boy waved at Kaiyou. "Want some barbeque with us? Asuma's treat?"

Kaiyou shook her head and rubbed her belly, newly released from Ino's grip. "Nah, I just ate twenty bowls of ramen. Jiraiya would never let me have any," she moaned. "I was actually looking forward to working it off at the training field."

Chouji nodded knowingly, while Ino was still pale-faced over the number of bowls of ramen (not to mention the sheer amount of sodium) that the other girl had eaten. Shikamaru didn't even bother to file away the amount of ramen Kaiyou could eat into his memory: he remembered that fact perfectly well.

The blonde stood there chatting with the others until Asuma showed up and lead the trio in for the Team Meeting. Then she excused herself, headed once again towards the training fields.

XxOOxX

There was quite a party going on at the training fields. Blue sparks were flying between open fists as Neji and Hinata dueled using the traditional Jyuuken style. Kaiyou stood there watching, her arrival as yet unnoticed, as the two longhaired pale-eyed cousins fought it out.

As Neji reached a hand out, holding it just in front of his cousin's throat, a serious blow had he let it hit, the duel came to and end. Hinata grinned at her cousin and turned her back to him, smiling at Kaiyou.

"I'm glad you're back," she said softly. Kaiyou grinned and leaped over the fence, enveloping her friend in a large hug. Over her friends back she glared at Neji, who turned an impassive face towards her.

If Kaiyou were to act any other way towards Neji, would it not be odd? Her attention back on her friend Kaiyou grinned. "I heard from Ino that you were getting lessons from the old hag? How is it going?"

Hinata smiled at the smaller girl and sat down on the fence. "Yes. Tsunade-sama has been giving me lessons in medical jutsu. My bloodline limit is very useful in diagnosing illnesses, she says."

Kaiyou grinned, happy for her friend. Neji walked over. "It has done Hinata good. She may not be a great fighter, but she is a respectable chuunin now."

"EH!? Hinata you never told you me you were a chuunin!"

Her friend blushed. "I…I thought it would be like bragging…and it's not so special. Neji-san is a jounin already."

Kaiyou felt dizzy. Both Sasuke and Neji were jounin? Everybody else was a chuunin? And she was still a genin?!

She didn't have time to dwell on that however, as she heard Kiba's voice assail her ears, calling for her. "Kaiyou! You're back!"

She turned around to see him leap off a giant white dog—Akamaru. Her eyes bugged out: even the dog had grown, leaving her in the dust as the only tiny thing left for their year?!

"Akamaru?" she stammered out. Kiba grinned and the gigantic dog barked happily. "Yeah, he sure grew a lot huh? We're great partners now! Oh, anyways, I actually knew you were back. I was sent to get you and team 7: You're needed for a mission."

"WHAT?! I just got back two hours ago! And I haven't gotten to work off the ramen." Kiba drew his face into a grim line. "Yeah, well, you're needed. I think your old man was planning on sending Sakura too, as the medic."

Kaiyou blinked. "But Sakura isn't on my team. Why not all of you then?" Kiba and Hinata shrugged. "Kurenai is on leave, and Hinata is still supposed to be recovering from a wound. Anyways, you need to report back to the Hokage's Tower."

Kaiyou glanced at her friend, looking for any obvious wounds—which she didn't see—and so, assuming that her friend was well enough to have been training, she ran off. She soon found herself running along a sturdy man in a white hooded cloak and sunglasses. He nodded in her direction and she grinned.

"You're in a hurry too?"

He nodded. "Where are you headed," Kaiyou asked.

"Hokage," he answered.

"EH? You're headed to the Hokage too," she exclaimed. "So is my team."

The boy stopped dead in his tracks. "Kaiyou, don't you recognize me?"

"Huh, should I," she asked confused. "I don't remember anybody from this village wearing a cloak like that." As the boy lowered the hood revealing messy brown hair, and sunglasses she grinned. "Oh Shino! I couldn't recognize you. Why did everybody change so much?"

Beginning to run again, hood once again shading his face, Shino didn't even bother replying to the girl. It had been three years: of course many people had changed during that time. The village itself might be the same as a whole, but the people grew and changed.

Arriving at the Hokage's office the two were immediately ushered in. Standing in front of Minato there were already three people: a girl with pink hair, Kaiyou's 'older brother', and a slender young man with medium-length black hair. An Uchiha fan was imprinted on the side of his black ninja pants, rather than his shirt. Any imprints on his shirt would be difficult to see: Sasuke wore a tank top under a black-netted shirt. The only color in his clothing at all, was the white bandages wrapped around his ankles.

Not bothering to comment on his clothing, which she decided to assume were being worn in an attempt to look macho, she turned to her father, awaiting the mission.

He looked at the group: Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, Kaiyou and Shino. "I am hereby assigning your team to a mission in Suna. The Kazekage, Subaku Gaara, has been kidnapped."

XxOOxX

I hope that was a mix of comedy, much-needed reunions, and a serious ending for you. Now I get the lovely job of…trying to manage to successfully rewrite the rescuing Gaara arc, in a different way…

Oh, and for all those who are curious: only those characters that I have changed for this story will have different fashion choices. Only Kaiyou, Sasuke, Itachi and Minato will have different clothing (the last as a correction from his state of being dead).


	21. Talking, Running, Thinking

Talking, Running, Thinking

A/N: This update comes a little later than I had intended. However I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Have a great week and remember that I have no claims to being the author of Naruto, so if you think the whole Gaara getting attacked thing sucks—blame the person who originally wrote that arc, not the college student who is wasting precious study time writing (like I want to study anyways…) a fictional account that has no claim to being anything worth selling.

XxOOxX

The group stood there in front of the blonde (but secretly graying) Hokage, in shock. Kaiyou felt her world being shaken upside down rather painfully, and then righted to the proper dimensions once again, with a new piece of information lodged into her mind sharply.

Gaara was the Kazekage. A Jinchuuriki, who had formerly been insane, had become the Kazekage. If he could become Kazekage, she could do anything….

The Kazekage, the strongest person in his whole village, had been kidnapped. It would take extreme power to have managed that feat.

It registered in her mind that she was angry and scared. She didn't have to look at her father's face to know who would have kidnapped a Jinchuuriki. The same group who had broken into Konoha and killed the previous Kazekage; the same group who were after her life; the same mysterious group that had a Sharingan-wielder; the same mysterious group who's only known motives were capturing all of the tailed beasts, and their human containers if necessary had kidnapped her friend.

Gaara did not deserve to be kidnapped. She did not deserve to be hunted like a deer. Fiery anger began to build in her small body, and she felt something uncurl deep within her.

A hand landed on her shoulder: Kakashi. Kaiyou calmed herself and looked up, purposely lighthearted, though her emotions still weighed upon her. "Well let's go already, we need Gaara to show up at the next Chuunin exams so he can vote me into the chuunin ranks!"

Despite the lighthearted look on her face, all of the males in the room could still see her determination and anger. She might pretend to be her normal cheery self, being sent out on a mission, but the old Kaiyou was gone. Before the group now, this Kaiyou was intent on protecting somebody, not on the adventure.

Kaiyou didn't notice the looks on her friends' faces, questioning when she had become so mature. There wasn't much to see anyways: Sakura, not knowing Kaiyou well having been childhood enemies, could not read the lie in Kaiyou's voice. Sasuke and Shino, being stiff-faced so much of the time, didn't let their thoughts show on their faces for more than an instant. Kakashi hid his face behind a mask, forever using the mask to add to his charismatic allure.

Minato's attention was stuck on a totally different thing than her maturity. "Why would you take the Chuunin exams?"

Kaiyou blinked, and stared at her father, her determination for the mission momentarily forgotten (so much for maturity, to forget the mission so quickly). "What do you mean? Of course I want to take the Chuunin exams! I don't want to be a genin forever! I want to go on cool missions!"

Saying the word 'mission' recalled the girl to the mission at hand, and she calmed her over-eager, defensive body language. On edge she watched her father blink once more, then begin to chuckle. "I'll have to talk to the old pervert." Minato, calming his laughter, looked at his daughter. "Clearly Jiraiya never told you, but you've been a chuunin for three years; you passed the exams."

Kaiyou looked ecstatic for a moment, and then settled her face into a glare. "I'll have to talk to that..grr!" Hearing a muffled snicker, she turned her head and glared at her friend. "Sasuke, you teme, don't' you be laughing. That means I made chuunin before you!"

The snickering stopped, and invisible because of the hood, a smirk appeared on Sunglasses' face. Kakashi, squeezing his sister's shoulder once more, held his hand out the Hokage. "Mission details?"

The mood was reigned back in. "Ah, of course. Team 7, Sakura do you accept the mission of rescuing the Kazekage and assisting with medicine as necessary? Do you accept the role of aiding the Wind country as necessary?"

The two jounin in the room, Sasuke and Kakashi, nodded silently. Sakura confidently patted the medical vials at her waist—trained for the past three years in medical jutsus, and fighting by Tsunade-hime she was certainly able to help. Shino, ever analytical knew that he would be of assistance. It was Kaiyou, of course (since she's got the loudest mouth) who accepted the mission: "Damn right! We'll rescue Gaara's butt!"

XxOOxX

It was a day later that another message arrived at the Hokage's office and he began to feel panicky. It was intel from Jiraiya, who had left the village instead of being chased by Minato. The sheet held two names of the Akatsuki, and their last known locations. It was far worse than he'd guessed:

Sasori of the Red Sands, formerly of Sand.

Deidara, formerly of Rock (and presumably a great enemy of the Namikaze family).

Added to this list, was the already known member: Uchiha Shisui, formerly of Konoha.

And these figures had been seen near the Sand village, deep inside the Wind country. Backup would be needed, on the off chance that more members of Akatsuki were nearby. He signaled to the seemingly omnipresent ANBU, having the white-clad woman send a message out for another ninja team, one who was swift.

Also it appeared a fortuitous event that he had sent Sakura with the group; Sasori was an expert with poisons, not just puppets.

XxOOxX

Too much time was passing; it was taking them too long to make it to Sand. The landscape was quickly drying out, the trees were thinning: they were so close to their arrival, yet it was taking too long, Kaiyou felt. They were making phenomenal pace, and each of the other members of the group was slightly irate at the pace Kaiyou was setting, as they could keep up with the speed, but not for as long as the girl was running.

Temari had joined them, having been in town, working with Shikamaru, preparing for the upcoming Chuunin exams, of which Kaiyou apparently would not be competing as she'd been a Chuunin for three whole years and NOT KNOWN IT THANKS TO HER SENSEI THINKING IT WOULD BE FUNNY!

Having been running for the past two days Kaiyou had concluded that humor was indeed the reason that Jiraiya had not told her that she had passed her chuunin exams. The man had frequently been chuckling when she got letters from her from telling about all the wonderful things they were getting to do, all of the cool missions. She had been continually making a fool of herself bemoaning her status as a genin, complaining that all she did was train, and a mission once in a while would be cool.

In her better moods she had admitted that she had been enjoying being out of the village. She'd gotten to visit Wave again, and seen Inari and Tazuna. She had seen snow (which she hadn't been completely thrilled with, but then again it was _exciting_ so what did she care?) and she had seen rivers winding deep between cliffs, scenery that was not around Konoha.

Still, she'd been let to moan over her genin status all of these years, for nothing! The man was going to get it later…actually, now that she was running and trying to keep her mind off of the threat at hand, she wondered if Itachi had known. Slowing her running down for a moment, over the dry ground, she let Sasuke catch up to her, and started talking (rather casually for a girl who was running very quickly) to him.

Her voice was quiet, not the brash annoying-nickname-giving tone she'd used when she'd been younger. "Did Itachi-san ever say anything about knowing I was a chuunin?"

The question took Sasuke aback. He and his brother didn't talk a lot: both of them were quiet. He had however noticed how his brother had gone on a mission for a week every other month, and would return dropping a letter on his futon. After six months Sasuke had asked his brother why he was always the one to bring the letters from Kaiyou back after returning from a mission.

**Sasuke's Flashback:**

_Sssscraaapeee, scriiiitch, kriiitch. He sat there sharpening a kunai on his futon, with the door shut. His mother would kill him if she found him sharpening weapons indoors, but it was raining outside, a rarity, and he would rather not be outside. _

_Kkkkriii—Sasuke stopped in mid-stroke, hearing footsteps in the hall. He listened for a moment, and then determined that it was Itachi, not his mother, from the amount of weight he could hear on the squeaking floorboards. Yet he still jumped as the steps turned towards his door, and the door to his room opened. Sasuke quickly turned his face down, bringing the sharpening stones from behind his back, as if he had not instinctively hid them behind his back, in case he'd been wrong. _

_Itachi had smirked at his little brother, shaking his head wryly. "Hiding from mother again, little brother? One day she'll find the shavings, and then you'll be in for it." _

_Their mother was normally a sweet woman, but like any woman who managed to survive within the Uchiha clan she was also tough. An Uchiha woman might be as domestic and traditional as can be, but she was also firm with her sons, and their mother was perhaps more firm than the few other mothers left in the clan as she no longer had a husband. A woman alone frequently found a need to be tougher than she had been previously._

_Sasuke scowled at his brother, then noticed the letter in his brother's hand. "Another letter from Kaiyou…" He frowned, and remembered a question that had popped into his head after the last letter. "Why do you bring them from the Hokage's office after a mission, and never somebody else?"_

_Itachi blinked, and looked at the letter. "I don't bring them from Hokage-sama. My mission is to check in with Jiraiya-sama and Kaiyou-san while they are training."_

_Sasuke stood up, partially in excitement, and reached for the letter (partially as cover for his emotional reaction). "You collect the letters from Kaiyou? Could I send letters to her through you?" _

_Itachi nodded. "I suppose I did promise to deliver messages for her…" _

_Sasuke felt a momentary surprise that his brother would promise to do anything. Itachi typically tried to avoid commitments to anything other than his ANBU unit. That had been a source of contention between the boys back when Sasuke had been in school and Itachi a young chuunin. Itachi had kept sneaking out of practice-sessions with Sasuke that he'd been 'encouraged' to commit to by their parents. _

**End Sasuke's Flashback.**

Sasuke remembered speaking with his brother a few times after that about the young girl. For a while Itachi had seemed fairly open to answering questions, but then about six months before he had turned his head away and refused to answer any questions. He'd assumed that his brother was in a foul mood, and had ignored the questions for that reason: Sasuke hadn't tried asking his brother anything again. Thinking on the conversations that had actually yielded answers Sasuke realized that Itachi had never mentioned anything of the sort, and certainly he would have when Sasuke was made chuunin…wouldn't he?

Sasuke glanced at Kaiyou, dragging himself out of his thoughts. "No. Itachi doesn't talk much."

Kaiyou grinned, and ran ahead again, relieved that it seemed nobody but Jiraiya had known and neglected to tell her. "You're wrong," she called back over her shoulder. "He talks more than you do, Uke!"

Setting her eyes ahead she saw the ground go from mostly grass and dirt, to sand on the horizon, small rolling hills of sand. They were very near to the village now.

XxOOxX

Temari and Sakura were running at the end of the group, chatting lightly as they ran. Somehow during the conversation Sakura had found herself comforting Temari. Despite being enemies with Kaiyou during Academy she knew enough of the girl, could guess enough, to know that the Jinchuuriki would never let Gaara be hurt.

In the past three years Temari had become a worrying older sister and needed reassurance. Her teacup had cracked, a bad omen, when she'd thought about her brother last. She was worried that they would be too late, and that nothing could be done to save her village or its Kazekage. Sakura knew that Kaiyou would never abandon a friend: everybody knew that the Hokage's daughter believed in protecting her friends above all else.

Sakura suspected that Kaiyou would sacrifice herself if it meant saving her friends. The two girls were silent most of the time, but for that conversation. Temari was still worried, but inwardly contemplating what the young Jinchuuriki who had defeated her brother in combat had learned in the past three years.

Was Kaiyou good enough to go against a man who had attacked a village single-handedly and left with the Kazekage in his grasp?

Temari pushed that thought into the back of her mind and told Kakashi that they were almost to the village. He looked around, and then called for the group to halt. Kaiyou halted most reluctantly, but came to heel, and grouped up to listen to orders from her old sensei.

Looking at the group of four teenagers he smiled at them. "We've made it in good time. But from here we split up: Sasuke and Shino: Find the enemies trail, and then report back to us as the Kage's tower. Girls we're going into the village to get intel from the tower. From there we will arrange plans. Temari if you could lead the way…"

Quickly the group split up. Shino and Sasuke standing still, as bugs quickly exited Shino's body, searching out for traces of recent, strong chakra out on the sands. The kidnapper would have left some sort of trail that his bugs would be able to detect, if the kidnapper used any chakra at all during his escape.

Temari took the lead, with Kaiyou, Kakashi and Sakura trailing directly behind her as they ventured into Sand. Thanks to Temari's presence they weren't stopped on the way into the village at all, but allowed to proceed directly to the Kage's tower.

Once there a man, with his face covered in face paint, caught Temari's arm. "Subaku-san! You're back! You should head for the infirmary at once. That is where the elders are—you're brother chased after Kazekage-sama. He was found yesterday evening a couple hours from here. He's been poisoned, but not even Chiyo-sama knows of a cure…"

Temari's face crumpled, for just a moment, and Sakura found herself putting a hand on her arm. "Which way is the infirmary?"

XxOOxX

Shino sat quietly in the sand, with a canteen out, drinking water sedately. It was too hot for his taste out here in the sun—few people enjoyed the desert of Wind country. He was mildly irked that his friend didn't seem to be overly bothered by the heat.

Sasuke looked down at Shino and smirked, as if he knew what his friend was thinking. "I do not wear a coat in the desert," he said mildly. "Have we got a direction yet?"

Shino sat still for another moment, and then shook his head. "Not just yet. Few of my bugs have had an opportunity to report back yet. It should just be another few moments."

Sasuke took that as a cue to seat himself on the sand, uncaring towards the effect it might have on his black clothing. He sat for a moment, and then spoke. "Kaiyou asked me about my brother on the way here. She seems different somehow."

Shino looked at his friend, and slipped the hood off of his face, absentmindedly. "She is still Kaiyou, just older. She didn't recognize me…"

Sasuke held back a smirk. Sometimes, it seemed, the girl still didn't engage her brain. "She looks like a kid still, and expects all of us to look the same too—well, mostly like a kid, anyways," he amended.

Shino raised his eyebrow, but remained silent, then stood, pointing. "That way. Let's check it out."

As the two boys starting running Shino commented to his friend, "I suggest not paying too much attention to Kaiyou's new appearance."

The reasons stayed in both boys head's: the girl was oblivious. They'd eventually learned from Kiba that she'd only liked Shikamaru because he could help her plan pranks—the girl had thought that Shikamaru helping her plan pranks was what a boyfriend did…

They had no idea where she had gotten that idea. Kaiyou was both oblivious, and the Hokage's daughter: Off limits.


	22. Delaying Tactics

A/N: My apologies and a standard disclaimer: if I were the mangaka of Naruto I would be in SERIOUS trouble for delaying my newest installment so long. The excuse of vacation, and two WEEKS of snow (and I live in an area that is not supposed to get snow, forget snowed in) is hardly an excuse. The second should have encouraged me to write sooner…So clearly, since I have not been getting furious telephone calls I am not the author, but I imagine that I still owe everyone an apology for my late update! SORRY!

XxOOxX

When Sasuke and Shino reported back three hours later, they found that the rest of their team was not ready to go. They were gathered around watching, of all things, Sakura. Sasuke allowed his serious friend to do the reporting, as Sakura treated her patient. "We have found the trail of the invader. The location has been marked, and the entrance to the path memorized. We ventured up the path a ways and found signs of a battle."

Sasuke reached into a pocket in his pants and withdrew a piece of wood, something that would not be naturally occurring in the deserts surrounding Suna. "This was found at the scene." Kaiyou looked up from her seat along the wall where she was watching Sakura, and jumped up to get a look at the piece of wood that was a little too high for her current vantage point.

Looking at it, she looked up at her brother, with a grim look. "This is definitely Karasu."

Sasuke looked up into his sensei's face with a look of surprise. He then turned to look at the bed that Sakura and Temari were hovering over. His eyes focused on the face, and with some difficulty he recognize the patient. Kankurou looked very different with his face washed clean of its war paint, and without the odd-looking black ears perched upon his hood.

"What happened, and for that matter why is Sakura treating Kankurou rather than preparing to leave to rescue the Kazekage" Sasuke asked, in a voice that almost sounded interested.

Kakashi looked a short way down at his male students—neither of them were very much shorter than he any longer—and informed them that either there were multiple invaders or that the young man who had attacked Suna had not revealed his preference for poisons during the battle that had witnesses. Shino was betting on the previous: the chakra signature of a Jinchuuriki made it difficult for his Kikai to detect other chakra signatures: it had taken quite some time for his Kikai to get used to Kaiyou's signature, and learn to focus on the presence of other shinobi. He told Kakashi as much, who nodded.

"That was my suspicion as well. Furthermore the wood you brought back, Sasuke, does not have any charring on it, which we would find if the original attacker used one of his bombs on Kankurou. No, this second opponent who took down Kankurou as he chased after his brother uses poison, at least as a secondary weapon. Unfortunately the poison is not a known compound---the doctors have never seen it before. Tsunade has taught Sakura some advanced techniques to remove the toxin and create an antidote that the Suna medics—particularly Chiyo-sama—are not familiar with. In order for us to survive our mission, and to attain information from Kankurou, we will need this antidote. We cannot rescue Gaara until we have this information."

Shino and Sasuke had little else to say. Instead they sat down quietly, on the far side of Kaiyou, who had a grim look on her face. It did not comfort the young Jinchuuriki that her mortal enemies had kidnapped her friend, another Jincuuriki, and that she could not go after them until they had obtained an antidote. Not that she wanted to leave Kankurou behind either, but still, the situation left her feeling grumpy and antsy. She was never one to wait patiently for a mission to save another. She had a fair amount of patience for her traps and pranks, but had yet to fully develop the art of patience in regards to rescue missions. It hurt her that she had to leave her friend to suffer, for the time being.

And so the four shinobi sat and waited, and watched, impatiently. Sakura was working as quickly as she could, a table pulled up into the hospital room, and working with her were a few nurses, and an elderly lady watching her face torn between awe and mistrust. Kakashi explained, in a low voice, that the elderly lady was Chiyo, an old medic. Kaiyou informed the boys with a grin, that the old woman had mistaken Kakashi for his father, and tried to kill him. The idea of the short old woman trying to kill her brother-figure somehow amused Kaiyou. It seemed, to her, like the woman was just a delusional old grandma, who was about as harmful to her nii-san as a fly.

Time ticked on, and Kaiyou fell asleep rather than watching Sakura work. Kakashi kept feeling his hand itch towards his weapons pouch—it was so much better of a diversion to read his precious literature, than to watch Sakura fiddle with herbs. Sasuke and Shino were dozing, having already played a couple rounds of shogi and having decided that it would be more beneficial to get some sleep than to continue to play.

Eventually they all, save Sakura dozed off, before she administered the new antidote. There was no immediate reaction. Sakura turned to her temporary team and smiled grimly: "The antidote should be running through his system. Because of prolonged exposure it will take a while for it to completely work. He needs to sleep for a while longer. For now…" the girl shrugged and returned to watching her patient, from a chair.

Soon enough Sakura too was asleep. Even Temari, who was worried over both of her brothers and had barely paid any attention to the briefing, slumped forward in her chair, her forehead falling onto Kankurou's bed, as she slept.

XxOOxX

Kankurou had been aware of the goings on around him, briefly, a few times throughout the last days. Lately when he gained consciousness for a moment he saw a pink halo around his eyes, and voices that were half-familiar. This time when he opened his eyes to a room lit with morning sunshine he was able to move his body and look around. The first person he recognized was Temari, slumped over with her face on his bed.

The others in the room took a moment longer for him to remember. Only one of the members of the Konoha team was immediately recognizable to Kankurou. A girl with red-streaked blonde hair, and was built on very petite lines was easily recognizable, especially when that young girl had defeated his brother in battle—and changed him. He also vaguely recognized the pink-haired kunoichi: another genin who had been in the exams with him. He only remembered her because pink hair was quite unusual. The others, Kankurou assumed, were Kaiyou's team.

The boy had only been awake for a matter of a minute or two when the pink haired girl, who was slumped over in a chair opened her green eyes, and immediately saw that he was awake. She smiled, "Feeling any better yet?"

Kankurou nodded and tried to speak. His throat was dry, and he ended up coughing loudly instead. As the other shinobi woke Sakura gave Kankurou a glass of water. Kakashi took charge of the situation, asking Sakura if Kankurou was fit to be interviewed. The girl nodded and went about checking up on his health, as Kankurou shared what information he could.

Kaiyou stretched and stood before Kankurou, and he realized with a little amazement that the girl was not only petite, but only maybe two inches taller than she had been three years ago: Kaiyou couldn't have been more than five feet and two inches tall. She grinned with relief at her friend's brother, showing him a wicked-looking fang. "I'm so glad you're awake! We have a mission to go rescue Gaara, but Nii-san wouldn't let us go until we had an antidote to your poison! It's good you're awake!"

Kankurou nodded, realizing that he had been out of it for some time if forces had already arrived from Konoha, and had apparently been the ones to save him. Kakashi put a hand on Kaiyou's head, ending her unimportant drivel. "Can you tell us anything about the men who attacked Gaara?"

Kankurou nodded once again. "The invader, Deidara he said his name was, met up with another man. He looked old, and was hunch backed. A puppet user, and poisons. Said that he made the poisons himself." Kankurou while feeling much better, still was not up to a long interview. He was a former shinobi from here: Sasori of the Red Sands."

The chuunin and jounin of Konoha shared a look with each other: curious as to whom Sasori was. Kakashi knew, but the younger shinobi did not. "He disappeared from Suna quite some time ago: a famous puppet user. He often used poisons on his puppets."

Kankurou nodded. They had it right: Sasori had been one of the best puppeteers of Suna. "They were headed—" Kaiyou grinned and elbowed Sasuke and Shino. "Sunshine and the Uke were actually useful for once and figured out which direction we need to head!"

Both boys glared at their tiny female teammate. Kankurou began to chuckle, only to begin coughing. "Why doesn't the midget and her pet Uke go rescue my brother from Deidara and Sasori already?"

A sharp noise made all of the shinobi swivel their attention to the door. Old Chiyo stood there, her back straightened and a determined look on her face. "I'm coming with you." Seeing Kakashi's face mask stretch over his mouth, as he went to speak she gave the younger man a dirty look. "I will not let you fight my grandson without my going along."

XxOOxX

Soon enough the team was on their way, once again on the path toward rescuing Gaara. This time however Temari was not to accompany them: she had been told to stay with her brother. Chiyo, however, had proved an indomitable force that could not be convinced to stay behind. She was determined to confront her grandson Sasori.

The group of six had already made it out of the deserts, still following the trail of Sasori and Deidara. They had been forced to take a rest on the way, once already. While they had tended to Kankurou, and made it to Suna from Konoha, the enemy had gotten a large head start.

Kakashi did not want to tell his sister the truth, but he suspected that Gaara was already dead. He was aware of the Akatsuki's motives. He had also been informed by Jiraiya that that the only way to remove a bijuu from it's host, would be deadly to the host. Regardless, he wanted this fight with Akatsuki: it wasn't just Kaiyou that wanted to protect her special people.

As they were setting up for the second day's travels, for another day of moving fast, Kakashi got a signal through on his walkie: it was Gai. He repressed a groan.

Gai's voice came through on the walkie: "Kakashi, Team Gai reporting as youthful back-up, over."

Kakashi acknowledged Gai's voice and annoying mannerisms and reported his team's location, and the direction that Shino's Kikai, who had gone ahead, had reported the lair to be in.

"My team will head in the direction! Over!" Gai may have intended to shut the walkie off at that time, but he did not do so promptly enough, and his voice continued to come over the walkie: "Yosh! Team! We have a long ways to go yet, but let's beat them there!"

Kakashi was almost cursing himself for bringing the walkie with the largest range possible. Gai had only just come into range, and for a normal ninja it would take him at least three hours to be on location. Gai…might actually be able to beat their team to arriving at the lair of Akatsuki. That was a scary thought.

Kakashi quickly hurried his team up, and made them leave the campsite quickly, even the elderly Chiyo. Sakura gave dirty looks to Kakashi and Kaiyou (Kaiyou was, if possible, even more antsy to go) for not allowing her enough time to get ready to go. Sleep was just as important as leaving promptly, so that you not only arrived to a battle on time, but also that you arrived to the battle with all of your strength intact.

They had not been set out long when Shino announced that he sensed a strong chakra signature ahead. They drew to a stop, for just a moment, realizing that Akatsuki knew they were coming. Each of the ninja quickly stuffed a nutrition bar into their mouths, so that they would arrive at the fight with energy to spare. They were about to start up, again, when the walkie crackled to life.

"Neji, Lee, TenTen. Stay back, and only backup as needed. Kisme is mine."

Another voice, one familiar to Kaiyou, came through on the walkie. "I was surprised to get assigned to fight you, but hey, what's it matter? I feel no attachment to my teammate. And cleaving you in half will be fun!"

The walkie crackled off. Kaiyou only then spoke up. "That's the man who is partnered with Shisui. The pervert fish-dude!"

The team began to run again, toward their own foe. Kakashi only knew, based on Kisame's statement, that they were not facing Shisui. He never, not in a million years, would have guessed whom his team was facing.

Orochimaru.

Standing before them in the grass was the tall man with long black hair, and sickly pale skin. Kakashi and his team were about to take on a Sannin. The two groups came to a standstill. Kaiyou recognized the man instantly from the stories of Jiraiya and her father. So too did Sakura, the apprentice of Tsunade. Sasuke and Shino for once were behind the curve: it was Kakashi who told his team who they were facing.

"Orochimaru of the Sannin. I see you wear Akatsuki colors now." The man nodded, and slithered a long tongue out.

"I see you keep company with the precccioousss little demon brat. And oh look is that an Uchiha…" The man licked his lips with that profane, hissing tongue, a power-hungry look swelling up in his eyes. "I've got a little presssent for him. . . I hope that he enjoysss it."

Sasuke snarled, and Shino shifted his feet into a battle-ready stance. Kaiyou formed half a dozen clones, and Sakura tugged her gloves farther onto her hands. Their battle preparations were for naught however: not one of them managed to evade the large snake summons that attacked them. It was aiming itself at Kakashi largely: he went flying. Sasuke found himself pinned to the ground by a large chunk of tree, flung by the snake. Sakura found herself, probably due to her big heart, chasing after and protecting the old woman who had been standing next to Kakashi.

Kaiyou and Shino were knocked away. Shino was stunned. The endurance that came naturally to Kaiyou treated her well, and despite the pounding in her body and the breathlessness that plagued her, she was able to recover quickly. She charged towards Orochimaru throwing kunai and shuriken as she went.

Off to the east she could hear her sensei battling the large snake. The battle over there was swift and furious: no small injury would cause the snake to return to its spiritual home and leave. She suspected that the old lady and Sakura would joint Kakashi's fight. She had nothing to worry about on that end—the fight would swiftly be over.

Shino climbed to his feet, wincing, a moment later and unraveled his kusari-gama. As he ran toward the Sannin he saw him dissolve into the ground, a muddy gooey mess. His kikai were till able to tell him the location of his enemy, however and he knew the man was not a danger at the present second: freeing Sasuke so the three could work, as a team was the most immediate goal.

Sasuke was easily freed, as the log could be rolled off with the proper push. The Uchiha had only been pinned for as long as he was because it was his arm and shoulder that were pinned, preventing him from easily pushing it off himself. He had just finished helping his comrade and best friend to his feet when Orochimaru materialized behind him. Kaiyou, and a clone, were on top of the situation, and three kunai slammed into Orochimaru's right shoulder.

Sasuke began a flurry of taijutsu, not using his right arm which was still sore, of which the Sannin avoided most, his body snaking around the blows. The Sannin however did not avoid the kusari-gama that wrapped around him, courtesy of Shino. The three genin relaxed their guard for a moment, sharing a look: there was no way, none whatsoever, that this was Orochimaru. The three of them should not be able to take on a Sannin so easily.

They were right: they couldn't possibly take on a Sannin so easily, but neither should they have relaxed their guard or their attention. Orochimaru stretched his neck and sank his teeth into Sasuke, where his shoulder met his neck. Kaiyou's eyes widened, and on instinct she focused her chakra and formed a rasengan, slamming it into the chest of Orochimaru.

He was blown apart, a hole drilled into his body, and he fell down, dead. Or rather, a man that was not Orochimaru, but was somebody that they didn't know, was dead in Orochimaru's place. It was too late though. Sasuke had collapsed to the ground, clutching his wound, and then fell unconscious.

Scowling, angrier with himself than he had ever been previously, Shino pulled Sasuke's hand away and looked at the wound. Both Kaiyou and he felt their eyes widen: Orochimaru had put a seal upon Sasuke. They were still staring at the design, vaguely reminiscent to Sasuke's own eyes, when Kakashi came forward, followed immediately by Sakura and Chiyo.

Kakashi immediately began cursing, but he did not explain what had happened. He looked around at his team. Sasuke would not be continuing with them at all. Who would take care of him? His immediate choice was Sakura.

"Sakura, find cover and watch Sasuke." Sakura looked torn, then she shook her head.

"Respectfully, no. You may still need me: You know I can use the same strength as Tsunade, and I have the antidote. Let me bring him along until we reach the lair. Then I will find a safe place and will be available to tend others."

Kakashi looked at the girl, then growled and nodded. "Then let's go." Quickly he grabbed his limp student and flung him over his shoulder. With that the group was off again, headed toward the lair of the Akatsuki.

He'd already heard, during his battle with the snake that Gai's team had bested Kisame. He too, had not been real but a man possessed and given a small percent of the rogue ninja's chakra.

As they ran along, Chiyo showed no emotion. She did however ask about the demon comment, but made no outward response to learning that the small girl was also a JInchuuriki, the ultimate weapon.

XxOOxX

Kakashi arrived at the lair first and called out for Team Gai to halt their progress. He recognized the seal on the large boulder blocking the entry to the lair: it would have four more seals placed around the perimeter. Each of those seals would have to be removed simultaneously. He relayed this information over to Gai.

Activating his Byakugan, Neji immediately began to survey the area looking for the locations of the four seals. As he noticed each one he gave the coordinates to his other teammates who each took off alone to reach a seal, with their walkie on hand. Only after the other three had departed, and were on their way did Neji depart for his own seal.

Sakura had convinced Kakashi to allow her to be the one to blast open the door after he removed the seal. She would palm off the antidote to whoever was going to end up fighting Sasori of the Red Sands.

Kaiyou was feeling vaguely useless, and she suspected that Shino was as well. The two of them were sitting next to Sasuke, where he was laid out on the ground in the shadows. Kaiyou turned her big blue eyes up towards the taller ninja. "I can't believe we slacked off. It's our fault… and Nii-san is really upset about the seal."

Shino nodded. "We should not take our enemy lightly. Sasuke too…he let his guard down." The two sat there quietly. Kaiyou reached out and ruffled a hand through Sasuke's black hair and discovered that it was not as silky as it looked. Sakura and Ino really had no need to imagine his hair as being perfect or anything…

Looking at her teammate—the one who was the most fun to tease—she suddenly felt a flame of anger within her. She flicked him on the forehead. "You idiot! You're always calling me that, calling me 'dobe'! Don't you start doing something so stupid!"

Shino grabbed Kaiyou's hands before she could hit their teammate again. "Orochimaru is not defeated. Take your anger out on him, if we see him again. Sasuke will not let this seal, whatever it is, defeat him." Shino paused for a moment, listening to the walkie. Then he stood up and hauled his teammate to her feet.

Kaiyou set her face into a firm line. First Gaara, and now hurting Sasuke: these Akatsuki guys had picked the wrong battle. Fight her all they wanted, but touching Kaiyou's friends was the wrong move. "It's time to take these bastards down."

Kakashi nodded and began the countdown.

"On zero. Three." Kakashi paused, then continued slowly, "Two, one. Zero."

Five seals were ripped off. And Sakura's fist turned the boulder into dust. None of the shinobi coughed, even as dust filled their lungs. They were waiting for visibility to move into action. Akatsuki was going down!


	23. Too Late

Too Late

When the dust cleared Kaiyou had this sinking feeling in her heart, and a feeling of anger blooming in her stomach. Raw hatred and intense pain welled up within her; stronger than it had been moments before. None of her teammates were available to help her control the rage. All but Sasuke were feeling that same rage, though a more moderate version of it, welling up within their hearts.

They attack Suna. They kidnap Gaara. Orochimaru seals Sasuke. They knocked Sasuke out. They hunt after Kaiyou. They caused Kaiyou to be away from home for three years. And now this: Gaara's body, bearing that odd stillness, that odd silence that marks a bloodless death.

Kaiyou wanted to doubt herself, wanted denial to set in. That corpse could not possibly be her friend, whom she had run so fast, so hard, to be able to rescue. They couldn't have killed Gaara and left him on the ground like a throwaway, like trash. They couldn't have!

Her eyes blazed, and she choked back a sob as she turned her sights upon the two men who stood before them. Anger and desperation filled her. Maybe he'd only just died? Sakura could use CPR couldn't she? They still had a minute or two, didn't they?

It couldn't be too late. It couldn't be!

She snarled at the men. "Give him back, bastards! Give back my friend." She shoved the pain away, and focused on defeating these men. Anger she could use some of, but the pain she must shove away. She must shove the pain away, and focus on beating these two men.

The blonde chuckled, and shrugged. "Un! He's dead, you know? No need to give back a dead friend. I think I'll take him away. Un?" He shrugged his hands, covered in the long sleeves of his black and red cloak, into his pockets.

The other man, who looked much older, and hunchbacked, gave a positively dirty look to his younger companion. "I will meet you soon, at the destination. Go. And don't keep me waiting," he scowled.

"Un! I won't be, Saso-chan," Deidara mocked as he threw his hand out. A ball of clay spread away from him, settling in the shape of a large clay bird. The blonde man quickly lifted the lifeless Kazekage out of the dirt, threw him roughly onto the bird with a grin, and lifted into the air.

Kakashi didn't bother looking at his team as he began to quietly instruct his team on their locations. Later he would hit himself about that: Kaiyou left, chasing after Deidara of Rock, alone.

He swerved his head in time to hear an explosion over the river that ran along the hideout.

"Art is a bang! Un!"

Kakashi didn't have time to worry about his sensei's daughter, not then. He still had orders to give, and quickly made plans to rearrange. Damn that Kaiyou, running off. Not that it had been bad, but she wasn't meant to go alone.

"Sakura! Take Sasuke and retreat. Provide assistance as able to Shino." With that he was off, chasing after the two blondes. He didn't have to order Chiyo-baasama (who wouldn't have taken kindly to his order) to help Shino against her grandson. By the hardened look he caught in her eyes, Kakashi knew that the woman was preparing herself to take out her grandson, if necessary.

XxOOxX

Kaiyou launched herself to the side, off a log trapped in the ravine that the river ran through, and away from the explosion. Her eyes flashed angrily, and she upped her speed, chasing after a clay bird. Despite the swift speed she proceeded at, because of the dodging Deidara had gotten a little ways ahead of her. She also blamed his 'art' for the reason Kakashi was able to catch up to her.

The older man and she had to dodge the explosions, and run at a fast pace, chasing after something that flew. They had to get Gaara: they could not leave him to the Akatsuki, even though they'd achieved their goal.

The extraction process had been fatal, Kaiyou knew. Jiraiya had told her, once, that there were only two ways to stop being a Jinchuurki—death, or extraction which was always fatal. There was no way that these men had killed Gaara with the bijuu still in his body, after taking him alive. These men had stolen the Ichibi.

Kaiyou's face twisted, in anger and a small thrill of fear for herself. These men wanted to do the same to her. They were attacking her precious people. She had to be strong enough. She had to! If only it weren't too late for Gaara—

Kakashi spoke, without any laboring to his words despite the speed they were traveling at, jerking her out of her thoughts. "We need a long-distance attack, to give us a chance at him."

Kaiyou blinked and realized that her anger had blinded her. She had plenty of long-distance attacks, and plenty of chakra to go along with them. Kakashi had a lot of jutsu, but his chakra levels were nothing at all compared to his sister's. Slowly a sadistic grin split over her face, something that had graced her face when she pulled pranks occasionally, momentarily shocking Kakashi.

It seemed Kaiyou had grown up, and he was worried for a moment. Had it always been in her nature to enjoy defeating her foes? Or was this a special case?

"I have just what we need. I'll have to be careful about Gaara though," and her face fell again. Even though her friend was dead, she would not bring herself to hurt him. Her face hardened. "I'm taking this bastard down."

XxOOxX

Sakura wanted to fight this man, this man who was on the same team as Orochimaru, as the strange dead replacement, who had hurt Sasuke-kun. But she had to take care of him; she had to be there for medical treatment. She knew that she wasn't just a good medic, but that she was also a good fighter. Tsunade had worked wonders with her.

But Sakura knew that she needed to tend to Sasuke first. Then maybe she would sneak back to help Shino. Before the old woman and her year-mate began to fight she thrust something at Shino, and mumbled into his ears, kissing his cheek for good measure in an attempt to throw off Sasori.

"Antidote. Provides immunity from further poisoning for three minutes." She gave what she hoped was a teary smile, and backed off to where she'd set Sasuke—at the edge of the bushes. Sasori narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

Shino, too busy preparing strategies to even consider having a blush which he would then be forced to push away, locked his elbow to prevent him from reaching into his parka's pocked to check the antidotes. Chiyo turned her eyes to her grandson, her body slightly tensed, but in a relaxed posture.

"Sasori-kun, you don't have to do this. Will you come home?"

The man, who was once her loving softhearted grandson, just scowled at her, as she had hoped that he wouldn't. But Chiyo was active as a ninja during a time when hearts were harder, and there were no real alliances, and she hadn't expected her grandson to come back to her. It would have shocked her more than Konoha honoring the alliance with Suna had done, just a day before.

Chiyo looked at the young boy she was teamed with (for all seem young to her respected years) and hardened her face. "I'm helping you," she said in a tone that barred all nay saying.

XxOOxX

Gai faced his clone in battle, and surprisingly enough his clone was not his youthful pupil Lee. No, his clone literally was him, identical to him in every skill, in energy, and in appearance. The New Gai even had the same amount of chakra as Original Gai. He had met his match, a better rival that Kakashi had ever been. Kakashi did have the advantage of the obnoxiously hip attitude though.

Gai knew that each of his pupil's was also facing his own clone. For they had reported in, but he hadn't been able to respond right away, as he had been engaged in a flurry of taijutsu.

XxOOxX

TenTen gasped for breath, hoping that at least one of her weapons from her twin dragon scrolls jutsu, had managed to hit her clone. She actually hoped for her clone's death, so that she could help in the real battle, and because fighting herself was exhausting.

But no, as her feet touched the ground, she saw all of the weapons strewn about the grass, but none coated with blood. She looked around, realizing that her opponent had had no choice but to leave a ways in order to defend herself.

Well, that was only fair, since TenTen had been forced to do the same thing in order to defend herself from her clone, which had used the same technique with the same amount of weapons and the same control. Tenten had always prided herself on being strong, on being unique and not another fangirl kunoichi. She began to realize how intimidating that could be—maybe this was why it was hard for her to get attention from the boys when she was younger.

It was very hard to fight against somebody this strong. The battle was causing her feel worried about her success. She was a very good kunoichi, but she had no idea how to beat herself.

No! She wouldn't dwell on these thoughts. TenTen pressed the button on her walkie, reporting in to her team. The kunoichi would use this moment of freedom for the best. "This is TenTen. I successfully managed to remove the seal, but am now battling my clone. Same skills, same weapons, as much chakra as I have; everything is identical! I don't know how to defeat me! Over."

TenTen had been forced to cut her communication off, before she had received a reply by her clone, back and ready for action, her buns still tight and neat on her head. TenTen, unlike other girls, didn't spare a moment appreciating how well suited her hairstyle was for combat and fashion.

XxOOxX

Neji used his almost perfect 360 degrees vision to watch his opponent. His opponent knew his weakness however, knew the weakness of the Byakugan and was doing his best to remain in that blindspot, when the battle wasn't close range. Close range that one degree wasn't large enough for a human to hide in.

Neji was smart enough to know to immediately throw kunai into his blind spot when he couldn't find his clone, but that didn't help him. It just forced the battle into close range. And they had the same skills: jyuuken, divine trigrams, kaiten. His opponent had all of his skills. All of his intelligence.

He was fighting a prodigy of identical skills as himself, and he didn't like it. This battle was going as badly as his had so many years ago at the first chuunin exams that he had attended. Only this time his life was on the line, and those of his team.

He reported in that he was having difficulty with his opponent, shortly after the weapons mistress had made her report. Neji wished that the seals had been closer together—a switch of opponent would probably enable them to defeat their opponent, but their battles were not close enough to easily maneuver the battles into crossing paths.

XxOOxX

Only moments had passed since Kaiyou had told him her plan, and what long-distance weapon she would use. Kakashi was mildly impressed, but then again this was Sensei's daughter. This was the girl who had worked herself into near-exhaustion trying to tame her wild chakra, and control it. Kaiyou was nothing if not determined, so this jutsu should not surprise him that she was able to do it.

He had listened to the reports of Gai's team, and then a thought occurred to him. He had already moved to the side a bit so that he wasn't caught in Kaiyou's long-range jutsu. That would be more pain that was necessary for a mistake. Noticing that the girl had not yet begun the appropriate hand-signals he called out for her to wait.

The girl looked over at him with a mildly annoyed look on her face. "What?"

"Gai's team is facing clones of themselves. How do they win?"

For a moment the girls' face tensed, as she tried to think, then she focused back ahead of her, yelling out the answer, as she dodged yet another explosion. Damn Deidara not respecting a moment's conversation!

"Get better. Think up new strategies, and new uses for old skills. It's training. Improve yourself," she yelled.

Kakashi relayed the message to the team, wondering if that would be of any use to them.

XxOOxX

Lee wiped the sweat away from his big, fluffy, caterpillar brows. This country was too hot for his spandex, he'd decided. The fact that he was moving very, very, very quickly might also have to do with the heat he was feeling. He had dropped his weights, only to discover that his clone had weights too. They were still on dead-equal footing.

There was nothing Lee could do that the clone could not. Except, presumably, for the one thing that Kakashi said Kaiyou suggested. 'Get better, think up new strategies, and new uses for old skills. . . improve yourself!'

Lee knew that he was definitely youthful and energetic enough to improve. He trained himself so hard, and he improved every day. This was just a visualization of his every-day practice: bettering himself. Now he had to best himself physically.

His clone had kept him moving so quickly that he hadn't had a chance to report in. Now, having kicked his clone into a rock, he pressed the button on his walkie: "I'm game. I'm going to defeat this unyouthful copy!"

XxOOxX

Shino panted a little bit, almost cursing himself for not wanting to be left out of the battles. Why did his team always end up fighting insanely strong opponents? Zabuza should have been way above the genin's abilities, a Jinchuuriki certainly was, and he had been so useless in the Forest of Death debacle. But why oh why had he wanted to fight somebody this strong?

Rationality clearly had nothing to do with it. Shino was letting emotions affect him. He didn't want to be left behind. He wanted to be part of the team, and defend his friends. Friends, it was a weird word for any of the Aburame clan to think and not be referring to another bug-lover.

Currently he was fighting a man who had turned his body into a puppet. His body was not just a weapon to the degree that every shinobi was, but had nearly given up his humanity in order to become a weapon. He knew, from his kikai, that the man was still partially human rather than completely a puppet.

He still produced his own chakra. And thus he could still be killed. Thus they weren't fighting a puppet of Sasori, the real one safely hidden. And he still used chakra strings to control the puppets—well, other than his own puppet-body. Shino, with his kikai, had an advantage. Without using any chakra of his own, he cut tear apart the connection of the puppets to the puppeteer, if only until he reestablished connection.

Shino glanced over at the old woman. She was not cut out for this battle. She was too old, but she refused to not be a part of bringing her grandson to justice. There was nothing he could do about that. He'd just have to fight well enough, in this crazy battle, for him to protect her. Man, sometimes Shino thought that he should just let chivalry die.

His kusari-gama was out, the weapon he had decided that he would learn so that he would not be entirely dependant on his kikai, and in motion as he battled Sasori, his mind set on defending the old lady. Shino's weapon, the long chain, encircled a puppet, and yanked tightly damaging it, his kikai climbing off his chain and settling into the puppet. They would keep the puppet out of commission.

That was his strategy. And how he had forced so many, already ten, puppets out of commission. Sasori was getting angry at that strategy. Worse the man had boasted of having more than one hundred puppets that he would use in one attack. Shino really didn't want to see that attack—which was how he'd ended up bemoaning wanting any part in the insane battles in the first place.

He was careful not to let his bugs harm either of the two puppets that Chiyo-sama had taken out. They were at least of some use, and would defend the woman if necessary. He didn't have to do all of the work.

It was minutes later, as he heard a loud roaring outside, as of wind that everything changed. The puppets were futile: Chiyo's that is. Shino discovered he was facing a kage killer, who had a puppet of a kage, and control of sand that would render joints useless. . . .

Sasori reminded him of a twisted version of a pre-humanized Gaara and Kankurou. And Shino was fighting him without puppets.

XxOOxX

That was it! Her long-range jutsu had been a success. Blades of wind had taken out the clay bird's right wing and sliced into Deidara. The bird began to slide out of the air, spiraling down, stained in blood. Kaiyou had cut Deidara's arm off, his right arm, she discovered as she ran forward quickly, the fastest that she possibly could, in a forest now, leaping over the arm, and catching her friend with a couple of clones.

His body was cooler to the touch than it should have been were he alive. The anger she'd been attempting to suppress burst within Kaiyou. That last little bubble of hope that she'd held, against what her own senses told her, burst. There was no way that he was alive. And somehow Kaiyou didn't think that CPR would be effective.

Kakashi ran up behind her and shared a look with her. Silently Kaiyou ordered her clones to guard Gaara. She and Kakashi were going Akatsuki-hunting.

Deidara, missing nin of Rock, would not escape. Kakashi summoned Pakkun to help the two of them track the insane artist.

XxOOxX

Sakura saved the day, much to Shino's shock. The girl was supposed to be watching his best friend. He yelped that much out to her in shock, as the roof fell down around him. The girl had punched her way through the roof of the cave that their battle had long ago moved into. Huh, long. They hadn't been fighting for very long, but it was a severe enough battle that twenty seconds was a long time, or so it seemed.

She grinned ruefully, without it meeting her eyes. "I didn't think about it earlier, but I used a summon to watch over him. There's nothing medically to be done, really, but she can alert me if need be. Now, fill me in."

And so Shino filled the girl in, gratefully, as quickly as he could, while Sasori pushed a large rock off of his puppet-body.

As the enemy stood up, while rocks were still tumbling from the ceiling, slowly, from the hole Sakura had made, Shino's eyes widened behind his sunglasses (which he kept on, even in the dimly lit chamber). The outside puppet was gone, a broken shell. In place of the puppet was a boy with red hair, and cold eyes.

The real puppet. Sasori, truly had made his entire body a puppet. The two Konoha nins knew that seeing her grandson this way, in what they suspected was his appearance from his boyhood, had to be painful for the woman.

Almost as painful as the piece of puppet that held the old woman in place, her blood slipping over the blade held to her throat. Shino's bugs quickly eliminated the puppet, having been placed on the woman, but the damage had been done.

The woman needed one of their two antidotes. Just in time for them to face the ultimate kage-killing technique. It was three (one of whom was poisoned) against 101.

XxOOxX

Well, the conclusion to the battles is next chapter. Please let me know by review if my battle-scenes are improving any. The rest of my story will probably have quite a few action scenes in it, so I'd like to know how people think I am doing. Lol, I just had a devious thought. Is anybody absolutely opposed to a twist?


	24. Blood

A/N: I didn't get many reviews telling me what people would think about a twist…I'm still debating it, as I sit here writing! Well, I'm not going to do it, but the temptation remains.

Thanks go out to those who did review, especially those who keep chatting with me: it's gratifying to know that my story is so appreciated.

XxOOxX

Deidara felt like he was in hell. The pain from his arm was immense. That blonde girl—the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki had sent a wind jutsu at him. He had been utterly surprised. Zetsu, who had spied on her off and on over the years, had failed to mention that she was a wind-user. It was a rare elemental affiliation in Konoha. Fire was frequently their element—it was situated in the Fire Country after all.

It hurt like hell to have his arm cut off by wind. Since he'd never had a limb cut off by anything else he felt free to ascertain in his mind, that only dismemberment by his art could be more painful. Deidara's face twisted in rage: how dare this girl hurt him, without any pretense of art.

Art was the whole purpose of his existence. He would do anything for his art, to prove its supremacy. Deidara did have responsibilities, though. He could not lose the Akatsuki ring, which signified him as a member, and was central to their plans. His life and his art would be forfeit if he did not regain the ring that he'd worn on his right hand.

Gah, he was so angry! His art was halved without his other arm, without his other mouth. With the damage taken to his art, Deidara felt anger rise in him. Previously fighting the Ichibi and the Kyuubi had been fun for him.

Now it had gotten personal. He would see his art beat that blonde brat. His battle was only just beginning.

XxOOxX

Gai tried to think what was different, what he had never tried to do differently in order to defeat his clone. Kaiyou's advice was certainly unusual, but it was something he reveled in. His clone was his rival, and he had to improve himself to take down his rival. It would be best to do this without making himself unable to assist his annoyingly hip rival.

He really didn't want to force himself to open more of his chakra gates than ever before. That would be suicidal, and counterproductive. There was only so much the human body could attain without resulting in death. Gai knew that he would be too close to death to push himself there.

But he had been learning a new taijutsu form lately. He was a taijutsu specialist and it was his goal to know them all, to enable ninja to specialize only in taijutsu like his dear youthful student Lee. In this battle he would use his new taijutsu form, he would master this form to take out the opponent.

A clone like this, creating from touching an object, was not connected to the chakra of the original (the real Gai). The fake could not learn from Gai, unlike shadow clones that were connected to the caster.

Gai settled into a stance that he was not very familiar with. He dropped his center of gravity down low, enabling him to jump higher without the use of chakra, and to increase the stability of his balance. He curled his fingers into position.

The clone recognized what Gai was going to do, and it could mimic this fighting style—what it knew of it. But the clone could not improve in this fighting style. Nor did the clone have practice in avoiding its attacks.

XxOOxX

TenTen had learned things since the chuunin exams. She knew that not only did she need to have excellent skills as a kunoichi, but also that she needed to be smart about her attacks. Long-range weapons against a wind user were not wise. Okay, actually, attacking a wind user was just plain dangerous if you weren't faster than the wind, or didn't have a good defense.

She had learned that she couldn't use sheer numbers of weapons to assure her victory. She needed strategy. Shikamaru had been an excellent example of how strategy could work in a battle. But it was Kiba's battle that she thought about as she wondered what she could do that was different and unlike any of her previous strategies.

She had nin-wire. Normally she used it to string her weapons together. This time she would use it to constrain her enemy, and to take control of the clone's weapons. TenTen was actually excited: this was new, and this was exciting. Maybe if she worked on tactics like these she would be able to become a jounin soon…

XxOOxX

Blood dripped down from Chiyo's neck, from where the puppet's poisoned blade had cut her skin. The puppet was long destroyed—a piece of rock from the ceiling had cut it down nicely. Sakura's rescue of them, her intrusion was very helpful.

The stakes were high in this match. Chiyo was poisoned, and her puppets frozen with the strange sand that the Kazekage puppet used. Sakura seemed particularly repulsed by that puppet, and Shino wasn't quite sure that he wanted to know why, although he was sure that he would, eventually, find out. It was two healthy chuunin, and a poisoned elderly retired jounin, against one S-ranked missing-nin who used poison and hundreds of puppets at once.

Shino was very glad to have Sakura's help. And especially glad to have al of his kikai as well, because they were in for a nightmare battle.

A scroll unsealed: and a hundred ghastly puppets emerged. Shino caught Sakura's eye and nodded his head toward the old lady. He would try to work his way over there, fighting as he went, to administer the antidote.

Sakura nodded grimly. "I take them out, will your kikai immobilize?" The boy nodded, and issued the orders to his kikai. He began to run toward the old lady, but it was already too late.

Ten of the puppets had gotten between him and the old lady. He whipped his kusari-gama around them, squeezing, dodging their attacks of kunai and katana. There were more puppets than he ever wanted to see around. He could feel so many of his kikai devouring Sasori's chakra, destabilizing the chakra strings.

There were too many puppets present for his clones to just stay there, preventing reattachment: many of the clones were not destroyed by Sakura in time, and began to attack again.

The pink-haired girl needed to completely and utterly destroy each clone in order to keep it from moving again. She was picking up boulders with her monstrous strength, and throwing them, crushing a puppet or two, constantly dodging. It looked like she was dancing with an entire cavern through of bloodthirsty puppets, the metal of their weapons glinting strangely to the dance, and the music of crashing boulders.

It was all-out war, being waged on two people. The puppets were completely ignoring Chiyo at the moment, instead focusing on the other two, as the woman had collapsed to her knees, paralyzed by the toxin. The beauty of the savagery was almost surreal.

Shino used the blade to cut into one of the puppets, hooking it, and throwing it against another. An explosion ensued, sending poisoned metal careening at the boy. He landed in a heap, blood quickly staining his parka, and one lens of his sunglasses cracked.

Sakura whipped her head around and cursed violently. She slammed her gloved-fist through a puppet, then grabbed it, and threw it violently against two others, shattering all three against part of the rocky cavern wall.

The only blessing was that there were still enough puppets left that Sasori himself, this red-headed young boy who was far older than his wooden-self truly appeared had not joined the fray, but let his soulless underlings battle for him.

Battling her way over Sakura, quickly reached into Shino's parka pocket and withdrew the two vials. Thankfully, another blessing, neither was cracked. She set one vial down and opened the lid on the first, and gently but swiftly opened the sleeve on Shino's left arm. A long cut scored his arm. The amount of poisoning he'd received would be intense.

She shoved the needle into his arm, only to feel an accompanying prick on her own. Sakura looked down to see a needle in her own arm. Her eyes tracked over to Chiyo, who was struggling up from her knees.

"You need in more than I, girl," she stopped Sakura's protests with. "I'm an old woman. And I … I have not led a life I believe in, any longer. Defeat him."

Her eyes widened as she stared at the old lady, who had just forfeited her life. For indeed they'd barely had enough of the ingredients to make the three doses of antidote, which were now all used.

Sakura nodded and turned her head.

She had three minutes to finish this battle, and it didn't matter how hurt she got. No matter what she had to be done in three minutes.

XxOOxX

Lee panted, his eyes wide with excitement. Some part of him wanted to eat the strange chocolate-thing that Gai had given him ages ago, to use in case of emergencies, but he knew that his clone would probably have that too. It was just no good to use an emergency-booster if the other team had it too.

Besides, Lee wanted to genuinely improve himself in this battle. It was the youthful thing to do after all. And so Lee was pushing himself to move so swiftly that even his muscles burned and his body ached. His lungs felt like they weren't getting enough air. But it was working. His counterpart couldn't see the kicks and the punches.

There was no going against his speed. Lee brought his knee up, then his foot, and caught his clone underneath the chin. He could feel and hear a sickening crack, then the clone was flying—and disappearing back into nothingness.

Lee heaved a great breath of air, his lungs screaming painfully at him, before collapsing to his knees. A crazy grin split across his face, and he screamed out for the sheer joy of having defeated himself.

The scream was very quiet—it seemed his lungs were protesting against such neglectful use. For once Lee was unable to scream about the power of the spring of youth, or some such nightmarish statement.

XxOOxX

Neji was used to being victorious. He was quickly becoming one of the best young jounin in Konoha. Fighting himself, however, was difficult. He began to feel some respect for those who always complained that he was unbeatable. It was his newfound position that they just needed to think more.

Using the environment and location of a battle against a Hyuuga was not the best method of attack. There were, however, other methods, of defeating somebody with his kekkai genkai. He had discovered some time ago that few members of his clan were skilled in the use of weapons beyond the standard that they were expected to learn in the Academy.

Neji had learned how to use a short katana. He had wondered, but had never had the opportunity to discover, if the Jyuuken blow could be delivered through the metal of a blade.

It had taken him a few tries but had had discovered, that like the raiton element, he could indeed pass the jyuuken through the blade. It just took a lot more chakra than a regular jyuuken blow took. Neji had landed multiple hits on his opponent (and his opponent on him with his own sword) before Neji had discovered that trick.

Neji couldn't help but smirk proudly as he stood, dripping blood from a short gash on his arm, and another on his left thigh, over where the clone had dissolved.

Maybe Kaiyou, the dobe, had hit upon a good training method after all. It certainly could explain her ability to defeat him all those years before. The girl was constantly outclassing her existing self. There definitely was something that he could respect about that girl.

XxOOxX

Pakkun was leading them swiftly, chasing after the bleeding Akatsuki member. They found him standing in a clearing, with a scowl on his face. His eyes were glaring angrily, instead of what had previously been an almost-friendly color. "Un! I knew you followed me. It's time to prove my art better than yours! Un!"

At the last second Kakashi grabbed Kaiyou and threw the girl, pushing her, dragging her. The tiny bugs on the trees were clay. Deidara had led them into a trap.

The entire clearing blew up. Trees turned into shrapnel, piercing Kakashi's body, which had taken the brunt of the blow. Kaiyou felt her older brother, the man who had looked out for her when her father was too busy with work as the Hokage, slump down next to her, and felt her rage redouble.

She herself had sustained wounds from the explosion as well, but none as serious as Kakashi had. The two of them had been so eager to catch Deidara, that they had not noticed the bugs were not normal. Their enemy was a very good artist, but that wasn't going to save him now.

Kaiyou looked down at Pakkun. "Stay with him."

Her eyes, that icy blue stare that was so unlike her normal cheerfulness reached out, and stared at the demolished clearing. She took a few steps away from her allies, and reached deep within her, to the depths of her belly, where feral chakra lay coiled within her. She drew on this chakra, her anger feeding her this storehouse of power.

What had once been the Kyuubi's chakra was now hers. Her feral chakra. As she accessed the chakra her eyes flashed red, the pupil slitting. Using the chakra made her more animalistic, but it was her chakra, not the Fox's. It could not control her through the chakra. The charka itself was wild enough, strong enough, to be harmful to her and her sanity if she used too much however.

Kaiyou pulled on this chakra, and turned red-eyes, and a sensitive nose towards where the real Akatsuki member hid, the scent of his warm, still-dripping blood, cluing her in to his location.

Deidara was left facing a jinchuuriki, cloaked in red power, with two tails of chakra—strangely able to affect reality—very, very angry with him.

_Dammit! Where is Sasori when you need him? Always carping about me being late. . . . _

XxOOxX

Two minutes in, and Sakura was bleeding heavily. But the puppets were kaput, gone, destroyed, or nearly. Only Sasori and two puppets remained. Despite the blood that dripped down from her right shoulder, and the weakness in her knee from being slammed into by a rock (the blow taken in order to do more damage to the enemy), and the nearness of her hopeful victory Sakura's attention was not on the battle.

There was this feeling of a surge of malevolent chakra, something unlike anything that she had ever felt before. It was coming from nearby. A loud cry filled the air from her small slug summons.

Sasuke-kun. Something was wrong with him. It felt like a blow to Sakura's heart, that had for so long held the moody young man in high regards. There was no way she could go to him now. Chiyo was barely able to stay on her feet, and it was clearly taking a great force of will and expenditure of chakra to hold off the poisoning for so long. Shino was completely out of the battle. She wasn't quite sure how he'd managed to be so unlucky as to blow up one of the exploding clones so near his body.

It was up to her to take the last two puppets, and the puppeteer. The feeling of malevolent chakra reached an ominous level in her sense, but grew no further. She could not concentrate on it.

Utilizing her superhuman strength Sakura punched the floor of the cavern, shaking the ground beneath Sasori, and kicked a boulder into one of the clones. She raced forward, slipped around the katana of the second clone, and grabbed it. She threw it into the path of the boulder, a path that headed toward Sasori.

He couldn't help his puppets escape fast enough, but Sasori himself did. One-on-one. The girl panted heavily. Or so she thought. The clone that had exploded was only partially demolished: it was designed as a ruse. Katana in hand the clone sped toward Sakura as she raced toward Sasori, intent on engaging in close-range battle.

The man was not helpless though. His puppet was just as strong as any other, and he halted her advance. His puppet, blade positioned to run her through, quietly but swiftly prepared to skewer her through the back.

XxOOxX

Sasuke was aware of pain, and of rage. A sense of power crept through his body. He woke up, and rose to his feet. His body didn't hurt at all, yet he had clearly been knocked out after the last battle. By his feet was a slug, coming up to his knees.

He knew that meant Sakura was around—it could only be her. Who else would have the same contract as the Sannin? Where was she then?

He found himself drawn toward a locus of activity, unaware of the strange markings that had crept across his face. Where was Sakura? And why had he been left alone, rather than woken up to fight?

The ground rumbled, and he ran forward. A battle was nearby. He could sense powerful chakra signatures. Reaching an opening to a large cavern he saw a strange scene before him.

His best friend, Shino, was lying on the ground with his parka soaked in his own blood. All across the ground were littered the carcasses of puppets. An old woman clutched a katana, on unsteady feet, over his friend.

And Sakura was halted in front of a redheaded boy. Behind Sakura was a puppet, sword raised. His anger flashed brighter, stronger.

Sakura noticed her danger before he got there, and was prepared to act, but he reached there first. His sharingan was swirling madly in his oddly marked face. Sakura surely thought he looked insane as he blasted the puppet into smoldering ruins.

Katana drawn Sasuke pushed his teammate aside. Acting swiftly, with a speed born of attempting to match Lee's, he raised his katana and slashed it into Sasori's body. Sasori was skewered through the chest, even as he raised his arms, fingertips ready to rip Sasuke apart with deadly blades.

As Sasuke removed the blade, lightning glittered on its tip. He turned his face back around to survey the cavern, feeling that insane power diminish. Sakura smiled at him, an odd, strange smile, as she watched the markings recede.

"Was that…" she asked.

Sasuke just shook his head. He didn't know how to explain that he felt more powerful than ever, and that he had no idea how he'd channeled a raiton jutsu through his katana. Silently he went to wake his teammate up.

"Fill me in," he said instead. Sasuke, with his poor social skills, could only focus on the mission, and didn't know how to deal with his strange new … abilities. The medic might be able to help, but he would feel more comfortable talking to somebody else about it.

XxOOxX

Kaiyou licked her lips and her two sharp fangs, which were peeking out over her lower lip a little bit. Deidara felt a cold sweat break out over his body.

He'd lost this fight. He was leaning against the ground with a crushed leg. But the man absolutely refused to give up. His art was his life. And his art would conclude his life.

Kaiyou's eyes flashed angrily, still that virulent red. As the man blabbered on about his ultimate, she rushed forward angrily. Her anger was partially controlling her.

But this technique was hers, and required focus. She ignored the words he spoke, about how art was his life. Her friends were her life, he was pathetic to put art so high on his list of priorities. Focusing on defeating him, on protecting her friends, the red chakra-cloaked girl powered up a rasengan manipulating the element of wind into it.

Her hand spun out and into his body before he even finished preparing to blow himself up. The shuriken-shaped rasengan, made of blades of wind and sheer power to eat away at any substance, tore through his body.

Kaiyou felt intense pain, and fell back howling. She could feel the bone of her arm shatter, and all of her fingers. The red chakra flared brightly around her arm, as she collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily.

Slowly the red chakra receded from her body, and she stood up, clutching the shoulder of her dominant arm. Her eyes blue once more looked over at the remains of her enemy.

A hole was driven right through his torso, the rest of him looking as if he'd been rescued from a meat grinder. Turning her eyes away, feeling her stomach turn, Kaiyou walked back toward where she had left Kakashi.

XxOOxX

Kakashi wasn't where Kaiyou had left him, when she arrived. He returned, with a mild limp, a moment later. His wounds were painful, she knew, but they hadn't left him insensate for more than a moment. In his hand he held a ring.

Silently he slipped the ring into the pocket of his green vest. The two turned and left the clearing. Kaiyou's clones caught up with the group carrying Gaara's body.

The shock of the day was getting to Kaiyou. She had killed a man. And one of her best friends had been attacked in a way that worried Kakashi. Another of her best friends was dead.

Kaiyou could barely smile in relief when Sasuke arrived carrying Shino, and Sakura carrying the old woman. Instead she just knelt there crying over her friend.

She could barely react with anger when Chiyo asked why a jinchuuriki would cry over another. Kaiyou felt numb, but felt a strange hope burn within her when she was told to lend her chakra to the old woman. Her eyes looked up with hope.

Kaiyou completely ignored the arrival of Gai's team. "You'll help us? You'd really help us? So many people hated Gaara so much, us jinchuurikis…People hate us, but… anything for a friend."

And so Gaara was saved.

XxOOxX

The last part was so hard to write! I didn't need to change cannon really, but it's so hard to be accurate… maybe I should have just left Gaara dead. I really considered it….

Please review and let me know what you think! I always love to hear from people!


	25. Teasing and Confrontations

Gaara nodded his head at Kaiyou, who managed to look serious for a moment, before launching herself at him. The jinchuuriki of the Ichibi looked surprised, then wrapped his arms around his friend in a hug. He patted her back awkwardly for a moment, until she pulled back, with a weepy grin. The members of Team 7 and Team Gai exchanged funny looks.

The Kazekage was not quite sure why his friend was so upset, but he'd heard that women tended to be emotional, so he didn't think too much of it. Temari certainly had been weepy upon his return. Kaiyou grinned up at him with that odd look in her eyes, "Don't go getting kidnapped again," she said with a teasing voice.

Gaara blinked his eyes—still ringed in black—at the girl. "I do not think I would like to repeat that experience," he said solemnly. She gave him a look with her brows raised; "Nor will I die again." Kaiyou gave a satisfied nod, and allowed herself to be pushed back to her team, and away from the country.

As she turned her back on her friend and bounced out of Suna's gates, a short blonde figure between the dark Sasuke, and the solid and white-garbed Shino. Raising his hand the Kazekage waved at his friend: so, too, did the sand of the deserts raise and twirl in a friendly manner behind his back, forming a vague outline of a hand. Gaara felt a trill of excitement as he discovered that the sand still responded to his will.

Maybe if he added some chakra…. Gaara wandered away from the gate before his friends were out of sight, wondering if he might be able to mimic his old Shukaku-given defenses. For though he would always be a jinchuuriki, never again would a demon dwell inside his body.

XxOOxX

Kaiyou was completely distracted and enthralled with to things. As a ninja she was always somewhat conscious of her surroundings, surveying the area for attacks, if she wasn't on her home turf. The other thing, was equally automatic, though less common. Kakashi was getting on her nerves.

Kakashi had managed to encourage Gai and his team to race ahead—all while maintaining his hip attitude. Gai had, of course, had an eager participant in Lee. Neji and TenTen had been far less enthusiastic. Kaiyou hadn't minded losing the companionship of TenTen or Lee very much—they weren't among her close friends, and while she enjoyed spending time with Lee—Lee and Gai at once was far too much for any person to remain sane in company with.

She was now regretting not having an ally in Lee. Sasuke and Shino would occasionally pitch in, assisting Kakashi—Sakura was outright helping him. Apparently the foursome had some questions about her time away, and about her relationship with Gaara.

She wasn't quite sure what they were so upset about. He was one of her best friends. Why shouldn't she hug him?

"…my imotou-chan have a crush?"

"Really, Namikaze, the Kazekage? I guess you found somebody better to set your sights on than Sasuke and Shikamaru."

"Sensei, your—ahem—literature seems to have corrupted Kaiyou. I would suggest that she doesn't even realize such behaviors are inppropriate for a woman of her stature."

"Shino, were you implying that I'm short," Kaiyou growled out.

"Yes, dobe, I hope the Kazekage doesn't dump you over your stature…"

"Ah yes, poor Kazekage-sama. A taller woman would be nice so he could bend his head down to her br—"

"Nii-san, finish that statement and I'll kill you," Kaiyou howled out.

Sakura, too, turned glaring eyes upon the scarecrow. He turned his head away innocently, flipped open his porn, and pretended like he hadn't been involved in the conversation at all. "Anyways, when did you start to go out with him? You're supposed to share all of these details…"

Shino and Sasuke shared a look. _Girls. Why do they want to share the details?_ Sasuke, however, was amused to see somebody other than himself being harassed by Sakura. (Tsunade had punched most of her fangirl tendencies out of her, but Sasuke still held a grudge. He also still hadn't quite gotten over his…nickname.)

"Didn't Nii-san say you were going to visit Gaara about six months ago?"

Sakura immediately swiveled her head more securely onto Kaiyou. "Six months huh? Wow, some anniversary…and what's this about Itachi-san? You know him well?"

Shino's eyes glinted evilly, hidden by his wonderful shades. "He was visiting every two months. Perhaps he had some reason to visit?"

Sakura seemed to latch onto that, her eyes glinting brightly. Kakashi too, looked up from his pornography for a moment, his sole eye glinting with curiosity. He'd have to watch…. Sasuke, on the other hand, froze for a moment, as a thoughtful scowl slid onto his face.

Kaiyou, absolutely sick of hearing speculations of her love life—which were all WRONG!—finally broke in before Sakura could get out of her old fangirl fantasies. "THAT'S IT! I'M NOT DATING ANYBODY! ITACHI-SAN DOESN'T EVEN TALK TO ME LATELY! SO YOU, PINKIE, GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE CLOUDS. SHINO STOP SAYING THINGS TO ENCOURAGE HER. AND UKE…QUIT BEING SUCH A TEME!"

The others just stared at her. But Kaiyou wasn't done yet. "Quit fussing over me! Why don't we focus on Sasuke's hickey. Or the fact that he's wearing clothes just designed to make his fangirls jump him!"

Kakashi could only snicker. Was it him or Jiraiya who had managed to bring their dear Kaiyou to the dark side?

Sasuke's face paled, and he muttered, grabbing Kaiyou by the collar and dragging here away, where Sakura wouldn't hear him.

"Hn. Make the girls pass out. And…Kakashi-sensei sent a message to your dad."

Kaiyou brightened, glad to be having a conversation that didn't revolve around her. "Oh! Daddy's going to seal it? Good! Then you won't have to worry about it breaking," she said rubbing her belly.

Sasuke found his eyes following her hand, then he looked abruptly away as her rubbing pulled her green jacket up an inch.

"But really. There has to be a better way to get rid of fangirls than dressing like an uke."

Sasuke slugged her in the head.

XxOOxX

The rest of the trip had been fairly smooth, for the most part. At dinner one night they'd discovered that Kaiyou's right arm wasn't able to tell the difference between hot and cold. She'd reached out and grabbed a pot of hot water—for her ramen—off of the fire and blistered a finger that had brushed against the pot instead of the handle without even registering the heat.

Sasuke hadn't been allowed to train since he was given the cursed seal, in anything requiring chakra.

Yet despite these facts, there had been relatively little fighting among Team 7. Everybody had been in a good mood: Sakura hadn't tried to ask Sasuke out (apparently it had occurred to her that being clingy annoyed him). Thus, despite his inactivity Sasuke was relaxed, and Shino was there to chat with him quietly. Kaiyou, cheery as always, just said that Tsunade would be able to fix her arm up in a jiffy.

With an easy atmosphere, but traveling at a swift speed, they made it back to Konoha. Reporting to the Hokage's office, Minato grinned happily at having his daughter and her team back, before settling down to business. "Team 7, Haruno Sakura. I have already received preliminary reports. Report back tomorrow with the details. In the meantime, Kaiyou, honey, please go visit the hospital. Kakashi, Sasuke, would you please accompany me? I've prepared the sealing ritual for you."

The Fourth Hokage waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. Shino and Sakura filed out first, Kaiyou waving at her dad and informing him that she wanted to go to Ichiraku's for dinner. She then hurried out of the room, eager to see the old hag. Kaiyou hadn't seen Tsunade since the night she'd tricked the old hag into taking on her friends as stu—

_Oh shoot! What if she's angry…eh…oh well. It's been 3 years! She can't hold a grudge forever. And it's not as if she'll refuse to heal me…right? Oh hehehhe! I'll just tell her it's only fair, since I kept the pervert from running rampant! Well, for the most part. His spy missions, or when Itachi-san was with me, I didn't…but no Icha Icha for 3 whole years!_

_Oh gosh…note to self: never tell Kakashi that. _

As she had predicted, her activities kept Tsunade from being too angry at her. Plus she seemed to be pleased with Hinata and Sakura as students. Hinata had great potential in surgeries, with her Byakugan, and her healing creams were very useful. Sakura, overall, had more potential as a first-class field medic, however as her poisons and fighting had also benefited from Tsunade's training.

Tsunade, however, could not fix her arm much more quickly than her body was already doing so. Kaiyou's body, with the chakra from the Kyuubi, naturally healed itself from major injuries. Tsunade, looking at the injury, seemed almost shocked at the amount of damage Kaiyous' Rasenshuriken had done to herself.

Every bone in her arm had broken, the nerves, arteries and veins had all been damaged. The bones had been healed, and the arteries and veins healed very quickly. If Kaiyou's body had not healed itself so quickly, the Rasenshuriken would have been a suicidal move. The nerves would just take time to heal.

Tsunade did a little bit of her magic, encouraging them to heal more quickly, and better so that there would be no permanent damage, but she could not heal them completely. Before she let the girl go, however, Tsunade made the girl promise not to use the jutsu except in absolute necessity.

Even with her supernatural healing abilities, the nerves could onto take so much damage. There was no replacing nerves that were damaged. And there was no guarentee that the nerves would heal as well a second time. For so many people nerve damage was permanent, no matter was medicine could be provided.

Kaiyou went home that night, cheered for her ramen, but otherwise relatively quiet. The most powerful jutsu she had ever created, was also something only she would ever be able to do. Unless there was some clan in a far away country that had a healing kekkai genkai?

XxOOxX

The sealing process, much to Sasuke's disappointment, was incredibly painful. He'd been the tough Uchiha male, and refused painkillers or something to bite into, however. For a moment his vision had gone black, with bright lights shining into his eyes painfully.

Slowly his world had come back into his brilliant colors—the Hokage's hair, Sensei's book, and the more common background colors. Kakashi had hauled him to his feet.

With a mildly curious look on his face, Minato had looked at the Uchiha boy. "Weak legs, boy?" For some reason, Sasuke felt like he wasn't measuring up. He was a jounin, not some little boy! He forced his legs to hold his weight. A chuckle met his ears. "Ah well, most would have passed out. Sakura is probably waiting to take you home. Oh, and don't use chakra until at least tomorrow," Minato added.

If Sasuke cringed at the thought of Sakura helping him home (regardless of the fact that she had been left in charge of his unconscious body days before, when he originally received the cursed seal) neither Minato or Kakashi acknowledged it.

Making his way outside of the room that he had been led to, as the two older men began to converse about sealing techniques, or something that Sasuke wasn't interested in very much, he felt himself being drawn into thought.

He'd been told that this seal was stronger than what Kakashi would have performed—which is why he had waited for Hokage-sama to perform the seal. There was no chance of this seal breaking. For some reason, Sasuke almost felt a little bit of loss at that fact: there had been such a thrill of power, a rush, an exhilaration when he had first woken from being cursed.

Sasuke had just determined that he would attain that power on his own—no snake pervert would help him—when he saw his brother standing at the reception desk on the basement floor of the tower. His brothers face waved before his eyes as he descended down the stairs to meet his brother.

Itachi looked up: "Otouto. Mission okay?"

His foot reaching the ground floor, the world spun around Sasuke, and he stumbled. "Ugh. Un. Yeah. Later. Questions for you too," he muttered out. His hand went up to his newly sealed curse mark.

Itachi's discerning eyes noticed the swaying movements, and the movements of his little brothers hand. Gently he caught his brother's elbow, helping to support him, and at the same time managing to pull Sasuke's hand from his neck. His eyes saw the mark, and widened.

"I'll deal with Mom. We'll talk after you've slept," Itachi said, taking control of the situation.

His little brother, who had managed to be stoic in front of Namikaze, was nearly unconscious.

XxOOxX

Mornings in the Uchiha household were typically very quiet. Though they were ninjas, neither Sasuke nor Itachi were in the best mood in the morning, so they became even more quiet. The matriarch of their little family normally chatted away and only occasionally demanded an answer from her less than loquacious boys.

This morning, however, did not fit the norm. Sasuke, wanting information from his brother and being actually sent to bed last night, got up earlier than he needed to in order to see the Hokage. Oddly enough, no time had actually been set, but if he knew Kakashi, he should just meet at the standard place two hours later than the meeting time was always articulated as. That meant, if he wanted to speak with Itachi, and evade his mothers questions by grabbing breakfast on the run (still going to take ten minutes, because she wouldn't accept his ruse so easily) he needed to get up early.

The ditching of mothers' questions was a standard part of his morning routine after a mission. Sasuke loved his mother and all, but he didn't enjoy having to explain every detail. And his mother had an eye for noticing his mistakes—even when he recounted the battles later! He was a jounin—but he was still under his mother's thumb. For Sasuke, ditching his mother was absolutely essential.

Knowing this about his little brother, (he too, tended to avoid their mother after missions) Itachi wasn't surprised when the presence of his little brother's chakra signature, and footsteps on the floorboards, roused him from bed. By the time Sasuke knocked at the door, Itachi already had clean pants on, and was in the process of sliding one of his black shirts, with protective chain links in the torso, over his head.

Neither was he surprised when Sasuke did not wait for his answering call, or when he stepped into the room and shut the door, even as Itachi's shirt slid over his pale chest. Sasuke simply walked over to the sole chair in the room and took a seat.

After a moment, as he grabbed an elastic to tie his hair up in, Itachi turned and looked over at his brother. "How was the mission?" Itachi deftly raised his hands up, finger-combed his black hair down into a smooth handful, and slipped the elastic around, holding his hair into a low ponytail.

Sasuke grimaced. "A success in the end. _Sakura_ proved useful. The Kazekage's younger brother had been poisoned. She created an antidote, one for him and some for the battle. We were delayed from reaching our destination by a clone of Orochimaru."

Itachi raised his eyebrows. Much of Konoha tried to forget the fact that one of the Sannin had betrayed Konoha, by performing illegal experiments on children. Namikaze-sama had not taken well to that, but Orochimaru had somehow been tipped off and escaped. "I presume he…" Itachi pointed to Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke nodded. "We figured out it was a fake, and allowed ourselves not to take the threat seriously. Unfortunately, the fake still had Orochimaru's skills, just not his chakra levels. Next I was aware Sakura was fighting Sasori of the Red Sands. I helped finish that battle: Shino had already been injured."

Sasuke continued on to report of Gaara's resurrection, and Kaiyou defeating Deidara of the Rock, in a factual manner. He didn't give any extra details. In fact he barely mentioned Kaiyou at all, watching his brother for a reaction.

Itachi, being an Uchiha, barely gave any reactions at all on his face. But the eyes were telling, and Sasuke could see a vague impatience flash through Itachi's eyes when he mentioned Kaiyou's victory.

_So Nii-san is curious....maybe Shino was right. _Sasuke decided to bait his brother.

"While she was traveling did Kaiyou meet up with Gaara, do you know?"

Itachi shook his head. "Avoided the hidden villages." Sasuke shrugged. "Huh, she seemed pretty close with Gaara. Cried over him, and gave him a hug."

For a moment, Itachi's shoulders stiffened, and Sasuke could feel a tiny amount of anger seeping from his brother. A smirk slid over his face, and as it did so, Itachi turned his back toward his brother. For an Uchiha his actions had said a lot.

Sasuke, however, knowing his brother was still at a higher level than he, didn't push the matter too far. He would just file the information away. "She seemed to think you were avoiding her."

Itachi ignored that comment and let his brother leave the room unscathed, his mind filled with old unsettled thoughts. After a moment he grabbed a weapons pouch, his wallet, and his ANBU cloak and mask. As he arrived downstairs his little brother was complaining that he needed to go, he and his team had to report in to the Hokage.

XxOOxX

All of her teammates were cleared for training, which was where they were headed after their meeting with her dad. But noo, her father and Kakashi had strictly ordered her NOT to do any chakra manipulation involving her hands, and no taijutsu. That left sneaking around and chakra control exercises.

It was on her way home that she sensed a familiar presence hiding in the shadows. For a bit she tried to ignore him: he was probably just on duty, and it was never a good idea to bother an ANBU on duty. There probably weren't a lot of gen—chuunin, who could tell when there was an ANBU about, but Kaiyou had grown up around them, and her father, and ero-sannin.

Kaiyou had learned to feel when one of them were about. And hey, if she couldn't feel one, that didn't mean they weren't about. Inside of Konoha, there was always an ANBU wandering around. It took somebody with a great deal of skill to avoid their notice. She didn't think that she was quite there yet…

After a few minutes of her walking toward her home, she realized that the ANBU was following her. _Dad didn't order him to watch me, did he? Cuz if he did…_

It was as she was walking past a thin passage between two stores, that the ANBU caught up to her, and pulled her into the narrow alley. Within a moment the two were far enough into the shadows to be hidden from sight. Kaiyou abandoned any thoughts of her father ordering her to be followed. This man wasn't, at this moment, trying to protect her.

The shadows obscured the details on the mask, but Kaiyou didn't need those to know who was addressing her. "Gaara. Tell me about him."

Kaiyou scowled, and leaned against the building behind her. "Why do you care? The past six months you've barely talked to me. You give a briefing and—"

"Are you…seeing him?" He put his arm out, blocking her exit, demanding an answer.

Kaiyou's temper flared. "And so what if I am, Itachi? Huh? It's my business!" Said man reached his left arm up, and removed his mask. His face was perhaps slightly more serious than it normally was, but it was hard to tell in the shadows. "Are you," he asked again, more softly.

Kaiyou didn't even seem to notice his question. "Geesh! Why is everybody asking me that lately! What, I bet you got it from the Uke, eh?" The girl was glaring into his eyes now, irate. They were just friends! Couldn't people accept that? Well, I told him 'no' then, and it's still--"

Itachi felt relief blossom in his heart for a moment, and his body acted before his mind did (a common ailment for shinobi). His arm, moved from blocking the girls exit, to wrapping around her waist. Tilting his head down he caught her lips, situated in that angry face turned up to his half a foot above hers, and kissed her.

For Itachi time froze.

_Flashback to six months before_

Kaiyou was excited to be returning to Konoha soon. He could see it in her face, and in her voice, as she talked about getting to see all of her friends. Itachi felt happy for her too. Being on the road alone with a perverted man for so long, couldn't be that much fun.

Jiraiya had left Kaiyou to his care for the night, claiming he had a contact in town. As soon as he'd left, Kaiyou had started giggling. Itachi had looked at her, waiting for an explanation. "He met with his contact last week! No, I do recall seeing a bar with a woman working the counter, who he'd …." Kaiyou just grinned.

Jiraiya had abandoned them to chase after a woman. Itachi wasn't quite sure that he approved. Kaiyou was still a young girl, one who was wanted by an evil organization. Should her guardian really leave her alone?

Nevertheless Jiraiya had, and Itachi knew that the risk of attack was very low. As was his routine he camped out with Kaiyou that night. It was easier to return to Konoha in the morning, and it gave the girl some time to write letters.

There was one difference this time, though, in his trip. His dreams. When he fell asleep he dreamed of Kaiyou.

_A hand shook his shoulder, and woke up, blinking bleary eyes. A face formed before his eyes—six whisker marks on rosy cheeks, tan skin, and big blue eyes, framed by shoulder length blonde and red hair. _

_His eyes moved away from her face to look at the rest of her: barefoot, wearing black shorts and a white thin-strapped tank top, clinging to her body.. Itachi drew his eyes back to her face. She was biting her lips, her soft pink lips. _

_His hand reached up from where he now sat, and slid along her scalp. The girl closed her eyes, and lowered herself to her knees. A moment later her warm lips were captured by his mouth, and Kaiyou was moving closer to him. _

_And then she was lying where she had woken him from. A burning sensation filled his body, as her sweet mouth touched his over and over and over. Her skin was soft under his hands, and she had never looked more beautiful than now as she looked up at him. _

_Bending down to kiss her again, she smiled as he whispered, "My love," to her---_

Itachi had woken up then, his face flushed, and pulses pounding throughout his body. Four feet from him, Kaiyou lay under her blanket, a strand of blonde hair framing her face, the red mixed into her hair glinting by the dying embers of the fire. Looking at her, at the girl who had invaded his dream, he felt his body betray him further.

Assured she was asleep, Itachi got him, holding his blanket in front of him, and left for the river. There had to be one around here—near to a river bank, on high ground, was the best place to make a camp. Finding one, he quickly jumped into the water, clothes and all. Standing there, letting the water cool his body, and his fevered mind, he slowly came to a conclusion.

Kaiyou was off-limits. He an ANBU, an assassin, did not deserve this beautiful girl. Her father…her father might see his affection for her as betrayal. Itachi vowed to himself he would not allow himself close to the girl.

Itachi had left before Kaiyou woke.

_Flashback over_

Itachi yanked his lips away from the girl, releasing her from his arms. He had betrayed his vow, not once but twice that day. He had gotten close to her pretending to be on duty, and then he had kissed her. He refused himself the right to contemplate how soft, how warm she had been in his arms.

Itachi mumbled at her, "Sorry. I shouldn't have…a killer…doesn't deserve you…" and left.

Her eyes wide, Kaiyou fell to her knees. Inside of her heart a war was going on, and she could not call out for him to wait. Despair quickly won out, and closed around her. Only as his lips had touched hers had she realized that she loved him, that she loved her friend. But he had also apologized for kissing her, and she didn't understand his mumbled words. A single tear slipped from Kaiyou's right eye.

She had killed. She was not worthy of love. Itachi did not ….

Shoving her tears away, Kaiyou quickly ran home, and prepared to drown her sorrows in ramen, refusing to be a weak girl who burst into sobs in an alley.

XxOOxX

Please don't hit me!! I never promised an easy relationship…

Review please!


	26. Teenage Angst

A/N: Okay, so maybe I should have just told everyone to send me virtual rotten tomatoes for making you wait so long, that way this time you wouldn't be so bad? Lol. I've been meaning to update for some time, but I keep getting distracted, or busy with my studies. At any rate, enough dawdling.

XxOOxX

A week had passed. One miserably long, miserably lonely, miserably boring, miserably contemplative week had dragged its feet, red Xs slowly filling the days on the calendar. Kaiyou had not been cleared for practicing jutsus by the old hag yet. She was in a lousy mood: her father was feared that he didn't know how to do deal with a teenage female with raging hormones. It never occurred to Minato that it wasn't PMS that had his daughter taking the heads off of her training dummies with senbon, shuriken, and kunai. She was also using the more brutal methods of just kicking the dummies head in.

Kaiyou felt like her heart was being clawed by the kyuubi, being torn into shreds for a fox kit to eat, not even worthy of fulfilling the great demon's dietary needs. Her friends did not know what was going on: Kiba and Akamaru backed away howling; Neji stayed clear—he trusted his eyes enough to avoid a violent female; Shino dropped by but was chased off. It was only when Hinata had finally found a free moment in her busy schedule to come by, that anything began to be even remotely solved.

Being a tough female Kaiyou did not simply break into tears and cry her eyes and her heart out to her only close female friend. No, the once diehard tomboy began to punch a wooden pole, similar to the one Lee had been training on, as tears streamed from her eyes, glistening in the air, and falling to the dirt like drops of rain.

Hinata, healer-hearted as she was, could not bear to see her friend so distressed. As a stifled sob tore through her friend she placed her hands around the smaller girl's wrists. Kaiyou's eyes looked up into almost-white pupils. Breathing deeply Kaiyou stilled the majority of her sobs, and lowered herself swiftly onto the dirt.

She whispered into the dirt. "I tried eating ramen. But it wouldn't wash it away. Nothing works! I can't! I just…I can't forget it. I'm…I killed him. As a monster. He said…I'm not worthy of his love."

Hinata's eyes glinted darkly, an odd phenomenon in such pale eyes. Whoever had said that had been an absolute moron. Stifling her anger she drew the story out of the girl.

"Who said that?"

Kaiyou shook her head, her resolve returning to her. "It doesn't matter. Ita—He's right. I'm a killer. I killed that guy, because he killed my friend."

"We all kill," was Hinata's quiet response.

XxOOxX

Sasuke was annoyed as hell. And it was their entire fault. Itachi just had to mope around the house, secluding himself into his room when he wasn't on duty. He argued with his mother and acted like some sort of burr had been put down his pants. Something was going on with Itachi, and Sasuke wanted it over. He wanted his obnoxiously perfect (if Pocky-obsessed) brother back! In fact he'd been so busy preoccupying himself away from where his brother could find him and use him as a target to unleash his surliness and anger upon, that Sasuke hadn't been seen anywhere apart from Shino's house in the past week.

Shino wasn't sure he was thrilled. His best friend was camping out at his place to avoid his brother. Sure they were friends, but this must stop. Sasuke couldn't avoid his brother forever could he?

And so both Shino and Sasuke were in agreement that this had to stop! The annoyance must end. It was only when, after two days of plotting that Shino absentmindedly mentioned that Kaiyou's temper had also been on edge, that he even pondered a connection. Sure he'd joked about the two having some sort of relationship, but as far as he knew it was as contacts. Sasuke, however, knew more.

He found himself looking at his friend, an expression of interest flickering across his face. Shino noticed the look, and began to wonder what was going through the devious boy's mind. "Do you know when Kaiyou…?"

Shino shook his head—he hadn't thought much of her temper at the time. It was normal for her to be antsy and angry when she was barred from jutsu practice (technically she probably shouldn't have been punching the post either, but only so much compliance could be gotten out of the girl). "Hyuuga-san would know, perhaps," he ventured.

Sasuke nodded. "Yes, let's ask her. At least find out what's up…"

Shino shot a speculative glance at his friend, from behind his trademark shades. "You think Itachi and Kaiyou fought?"

Sasuke shrugged eloquently, as he grabbed a jacket from beside him. "I was teasing him about Kaiyou hugging Gaara, and he seemed interested. That night he comes home angry at the world. I half thought he was going to drink himself into oblivion…"

XxOOxX

Hinata had been spending the last day, since discovering why Kaiyou was so upset talking with her. She had not been able to get Kaiyou to confess the name to her; for a bigmouth she was being surprisingly tight-lipped on that. The girl with bluish hair knew that her feeling heartbroken over a boy was only compounding another issue: her first kill.

Hinata had convinced Kaiyou to talk to her father about it. That hadn't particularly gone well, according to Hinata's standards. For a great ninja Minato Namikaze was a doting father, with no common sense. Since his daughter had little common sense, it seemed to work well enough. Hinata's father was harsh and demanding, though not heartless (though he wasn't sure that Hinata was cut out to be the clan leader, which didn't really bother her that much), but Minato had a completely different approach to dealing with his daughter.

The Fourth Hokage's dealing method was a large amount of ramen, and assuring her that killing didn't make her a horrible person. He told her in no uncertain terms that Kaiyou's mother, Kushina, had been a great ninja—who, yes, killed people, and he had loved her. Killing was sometimes necessary to save lives.

He also told her that he would kill any number of people to keep his little girl (and his village) safe and happy. After that conversation, Kaiyou was relieved a little bit. She was able to stop demolishing half of the training stumps in the area.

But she was still not happy. A melancholy attitude was less natural for Kaiyou than her anger had been. Minato had responded to the situation, after his oh-so-sensitive pep talk by offering to teach her a new jutsu as soon as her arm had healed. This had cheered her, but her arm wasn't cleared yet, and the excitement wore off after realizing that she would have to wait to learn.

Wandering home after a visit with Kaiyou she found herself face-to-face-to-face with Shino and Sasuke, who were just leaving the Hyuuga Complex.

"Hello," she greeted them quietly.

"Ah, Hyuuga-san we were just seeking you. We have some questions you might be able to help us with."

Hinata hesitated for a moment, unsure of what she could offer these two. They were all friends of Kaiyou, but really they'd had sporadic contact in the years that Kaiyou had been gone. She was often busy with her team, and only really spoke to them on occasion.

"About Kaiyou," Sasuke grunted.

Hinata made a swift decision, and indicated for them to follow her back into the Hyuuga complex, bowing politely to any of her family members as she passed. The two boys of Team 7 followed along behind her, as she led them to a study that was set up for informal visits. She had a feeling that they would need the privacy afforded by the study, which was certainly more private than the main room off of the foyer.

Seating herself neatly on a low cushion, she indicated for her guests to do so as well. "Please, ask," she said politely. It would hardly do for the conversation to be overheard by anyone, and be commented upon for the lack of propriety. In her home and elsewhere Hinata was expected to be polite by her father (or more particularly, the clan elders).

Sasuke and Shino shared a glance full of silent communications. Finally Sasuke spoke, "We wondered if you knew why Kaiyou is so angry…?"

XxOOxX

Itachi tugged the mask from his face and set it gently on the table beside his bed, before roughly flinging himself onto the Western style bed, burying his face in his pillow.

Contrary to Sasuke's belief, which yes Itachi was quite aware of, he was not angry at the world. Well not mostly. Sure it was the world that made him fall in love with Unavailable Girl Number One, but it was he who had impulsively broken his vow. It was he who had touched his mouth to hers, tasting of the sweetness that he could not allow himself.

In his head he had some messed up ideas. He somehow believed himself unworthy of her. Yeah, the Hokage would probably agree. Namikaze-sama would probably also never admit that any male was good enough for his precious daughter. Or any female either, if it came to that.

What Itachi felt was messed up was that his determination of staying away from the girl, the tiny, young, girl, was wavering. He woke up every morning with dreams of her, vividly real with how soft her lips had been against his, haunting his mind. He was going crazy! Kaiyou was driving him crazy.

He could avoid her all day long, but not all night. Nor could he allow himself to short-change himself on sleep: the lack of sleep could cause him to be less attentive in his duties, and without a valid reason pertaining to fulfilling those duties it was foolish and naïve. For surely when an ANBU agent decided that it was safe enough to go to work ill-rested, surely then was when an attack would come.

No, Itachi was a man who had been on assassination missions. He was a man who had been revealed to bear the beginnings of chilling inclinations in the therapy he had gone through so many years ago. In truth, occasionally even now he had to report into the psychiatric offices for a check-up.

Itachi had begun to hate his father. His father who had pushed him so hard into being excellent, who had wanted him to be the perfect Uchiha. It had only been the beginnings: but he felt guilty that his father had died, while he harbored the occasional thought of murder. All he wanted was to be allowed to relax on occasion, enjoy a pack of Pocky and roughhouse with his little brother. But even Sasuke had wanted something: training, to be just as good as Itachi.

All he wanted was to be ordinary. Yet he was a shinobi—a killer—and indubitably in love with the one girl he wouldn't even try for. Any other girl would come to him (Itachi had no delusions, he really had an annoying fan club) but this one he would push away, not because she was annoying (well, he reflected, Kaiyou could be annoying, but that was beside the point) but because he wouldn't sully her. The young Jinchuuriki was surrounded by enough blood already.

A fist slammed into his pillow. "Dammit," he growled.

His violation of his vow had made everything worse. Taking it out on his family wasn't going to do any good whatsoever. Maybe if he asked for advice for a friend from his mother…no, the woman was far too astute for that. If he mentioned that the next thing she'd be gushing about would be grandbabies!

XxOOxX

To her credit, Hinata was not going completely gossipy, or yelling like Ino or Sakura would have done. There was, however, an odd glint in her eyes. She was clearly torn between anger, and excitement over whom her best friend was all torn up inside over.

Itachi.

The three had pieced it together. Sasuke said something about Gaara to Itachi. The two must have argued—an argument involving the words "killer" and "don't deserve."

The fact that Itachi was upset did not let him off of the hook completely in Hinata's eyes. They would have to make sure that he fixed the problem that he started. Determination filled her eyes.

"Sasuke-san, would you tell me precisely why your onii-san would find it distasteful to have a relationship with Namikaze-san?"

Sasuke scowled, leaning back against the wall. Shino answered for him. "I think it highly unlikely it has anything to do with her having killed a man. Uchiha-san, is after all, an ANBU."

She nodded. "Ensure he is here at two tomorrow." And then she rose, a fierce glint in her eyes. Both of the boys had the feeling that they should obey. Kaiyou had once mentioned that pulling Hinata out of her own shell had its drawbacks sometimes. Once the girl had learned to stand up against some of her and Kiba's wilder schemes, she had managed to ruin too much fun. When the girl put her mind to it, she was downright fierce.

Had her father seen this behavior out of her more often, he would have no doubts about her being fit to lead the united clan.

Wandering away from the house moments later, it occurred to them that they had not inquired why Itachi was to be at her house. All they had learned was that they should be present as well.

Now they just had to figure out how to get him there.

Perhaps Sasuke should inform his brother that Hyuuga-sama wished to converse with him? But what if—no, Itachi would be at home. His mood lately, he hadn't been going out on his days off, and on Wednesdays he never had guard duty around the village, though he did occasionally take missions that would have him outside of the village in midweek.

XxOOxX

Kaiyou was in a better mood than she had been in for a week and a half. Her arm had been cleared for light chakra usage! Okay, so she wouldn't be doing the rasengan for another few days, but she was allowed to do chakra exercises using her hands, and C-rank jutsus. So basically kawarimi and henge, but hey, at least it was something! She was that much closer to being able to take her mind off of Itachi and put it to use learning that new jutsu her father had promised.

He had been uniquely quiet about what jutsu he would be teaching her. That always meant it was a good one. And now she was on her way to Hinata's—she'd been invited over for the afternoon and lunch.

Between her arm almost being healed completely and dinner at a friend's house (so, okay it wasn't ramen, but it was always nice to visit with Hinata) she was grinning a little bit as she went to Hinata's house.

Kaiyou was quickly welcomed into the house. As always the lunch served to Hinata and her friend was quite good: onigiri with baked salmon and sweet plums. It probably was lacking in the vegetable department, but that didn't bother Kaiyou at all. After a rather subdued lunch (though good, it always felt odd to the girl from such a lively home to sit at a formal dining table) the two retreated to a study. A few healing jutsu scrolls sat on the low desk, and a collection of dark violet cushions lined one wall. Kaiyou plopped herself down, in a negligently graceful manner. Hinata shook her head and took a seat primly.

The two had not been speaking together very long, continuing to catch up on the past three years with minimal contact, when a knock sounded on the light screen door. Hinata rose, and slipped out of the door, closing it behind her. Kaiyou just leaned back against the cushion, her smile faltering for a moment. Everything made her think of Itachi—at least everything in these past three years.

Then the door slid open again and Hinata's voice was softly ringing: "Yes, Uchiha-san. Please go in. I'll leave you to speak."

Itachi came up short as Hinata shut the door to the small study behind him. His eyes scanned the room, and with perhaps a tinge of stoniness on his face he asked, rather rudely: "What are you doing here? Where is Hyuuga-sama?"

Kaiyou snorted angrily. "This is Hinata's study. She just left."

The man stood awkwardly in front of the door. After a moment, he looked at the girl with fiery and golden hair. "I believe that your friend wishes us to speak."

Kaiyou pushed herself to her feet, eyes narrowing angrily. Anger was an easier emotion to deal with than hurt. "Well we already talked didn't we? Or rather YOU kiss ME then act disgusted!"

Itachi's already pale face blanched so that it almost appeared white rather than the pale olive that was his skin tone. "Disgusted," he yelped!

But Kaiyou wasn't listening. She never was the best at listening. "I want to know where you get off saying that I'm disgusting and not worthy of being loved because I killed one man! C'mon haven't you killed a lot! I know what ANBU do, or have you forgotten who I am?"

Itachi broke in bitterly. "How could I forget who you are? The HOKAGE'S DAUGHTER! The one girl who I'm not allowed to love!"

Kaiyou didn't respond, and Itachi suddenly returned to his stoic self, no doubt wishing his words back into his mouth. "What," Kaiyou whispered after a minute's silence. The silence dragged on. "Then you don't think I'm disgusting because I killed that man? Then I'm not without hope?"

A strange feeling, perhaps like a bird fluttering in her chest instead of her heart, stole over Kaiyou. Yet Itachi still didn't respond, so she spoke again. "Am I always going to be the one to speak then? Do you love me too?"

Kaiyou had somehow come to stand close to him, looking into his black eyes. A flash of irritation stole through her: never say a Namikaze was patient. If he wouldn't answer, then she'd find out the hard way!

Kaiyou reached up and slapped him. His head turned on his neck an inch before he caught himself. He blinked. "What was that for?" he growled out.

"For not answering," she snarled back. "You don't even have the decency to answer when I ask you straight out!"

Itachi wished he weren't in this situation. He didn't know how to answer. Every fangirl who asked if he loved them, if they were beautiful, he had a glib answer for them, to get them to leave him alone. Not this time. He loved Kaiyou. But he didn't feel like he should. The words spilled out of him. "I—yes—but, I shouldn't, I—"

The words didn't get any farther out of his mouth. A soft pair of pink lips touched his for just a moment. Two moments passed and his hand was reaching out, touching a strand of her hair that fell over her tanned skin in his dreams—

He yanked himself back. "Your father will kill me," he said quietly, eyes burning as he looked at the fiery, petite young woman before him.

"I'll make him get used to it slowly. Or else he'll chain me into my room. He thinks he can keep me from growing up forever." Kaiyou smiled softly for a moment, then let her glare return. She hit him again as a thought occurred to her.

"What sort of idiot are you!? Why the hell would you let my Dad keep us apart! Did you WANT me to be MISERABLE?! And saying that killing made a person undeserving of love! GRR!"

Hinata, standing re-entered the room a moment later, to discover that Itachi was trying to calm her down, to apologize. Clearly the two loved each other—but no relationship between them would ever be tame. In fact they were a great deal like good friends in their behavior. For now.

Perhaps things would look up for Konoha. Kaiyou was back, and happy. It had been lonely while she was gone.

XxOOxX

Okay, that was the most angst-ridden chapter I have ever written. Don't expect another, I might have to shoot myself. But their relationship issues had to meet some level of resolution. While I'm writing this ending note, I want to thank everyone who left reviews on the last chapter of my story. I didn't reply to everyone individually like I normally do, because I had no idea when I would get back to my story. But thank you VERY much. I love seeing people review my story.


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